^B  •^Bfe  -rfA. "  --™3 
•  ^H 

THE 


PRINCE 


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III  MU&.OCK 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 


y  -i  y-c  yj.  y  -c  y  t  y*  y  t  y*  y  t  yt  y*.  y  t  y  t  y  -t  yt  y  t  y  t  y*. 

>f<>  ^^^  'fv  *fS  /»»<  +1*  *T\  ^•v  'T\  A,A  >yv  *-.A  *,-«.  ^T\  *,A  f^\  *,\  /•l^ 


Th© 


MISS  MULOCK 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  DOROTHY  TODD 


THE  GOLDSMITH  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


MANUFACTURED  IN   THE   UNITED   STATES  OTF   AMERICA. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE  ........••  1 

THE  INVISIBLE  PRINCE    ...........  136 

PRINCE  CHERRY ....»»  181 

THE  PRINCE  WITH  THE  NOSE  .    , 197 

THE  FROG-PRINCE 209 

CLEVER  ALICE    ..............  216 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Pacing  page 

"Take  care!  Don't  let  the  baby  faU  again"  ....  8 

The  cloak  rose  slowly  and  steadily  .......  56 

"How  nice  it  must  be  to  run  like  that!" 80 

"Hurrah  for  Prince  Dolor!  Let  Prince  Dolor  be  our 

sovereign!" 116 

"When  you  p*it  on  the  cap  you  shall  be  invisible;  but 

when  you  take  it  off  you  shall  again  become  visible"  143 

At  first  she  took  him  for  a  real  statue 170 

Cherry  saw  a  poor  peasant  girl  and  recognized  ZeUa  .  195 

"It  is  you,  old  water-paddler"   ........  210 


2081699 


THE 


CHAPTER  I 

ES,  he  was  the  most  beautiful  Prince 

that  ever  was  born. 

Of  course,  being  a  prince,  people 

said  this;  but  it  was  true  besides. 
When  he  looked  at  the  candle,  his  eyes  had  an 
expression  of  earnest  inquiry  quite  startling  in 
a  new  born  baby.  His  nose — there  was  not  much 
of  it  certainly,  but  what  there  was  seemed  an 
aquiline  shape ;  his  complexion  was  a  charming, 
healthy  purple ;  he  was  round  and  fat,  straight- 
limbed  and  long — in  fact,  a  splendid  baby,  and 
everybody  was  exceedingly  proud  of  him,  espe- 
cially his  father  and  mother,  the  King  and  Queen 
of  Nomansland,  who  had  waited  for  him  during 
their  happy  reign  of  ten  years — now  made  hap- 
pier than  ever,  to  themselves  and  their  subjects, 
by  the  appearance  of  a  son  and  heir, 

[11 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

The  only  person  who  was  not  quite  happy  was 
the  King's  brother,  the  heir  presumptive,  who 
would  have  been  king  one  day  had  the  baby  not 
been  born.  But  as  his  majesty  was  very  kind  to 
him,  and  even  rather  sorry  for  him. — insomuch 
that  at  the  Queen's  request  he  gave  him  a  duke- 
dom almost  as  big  as  a  county — the  Crown- 
Prince,  as  he  was  called,  tried  to  seem  pleased 
also;  and  let  us  hope  he  succeeded. 

The  Prince's  christening  was  to  be  a  grand 
affair.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  country, 
there  were  chosen  for  him  f our-and-twenty  god- 
fathers and  godmothers,  who  each  had  to  give 
him  a  name,  and  promise  to  do  their  utmost  for 
him.  When  he  came  of  age,  he  himself  had  to 
choose  the  name — and  the  godfather  or  god- 
mother— that  he  liked  the  best,  for  the  rest  of  his 
days. 

Meantime  all  was  rejoicing.  Subscriptions 
were  made  among  the  rich  to  give  pleasure  to  the 
poor ;  dinners  in  town-halls  for  the  workingmen ; 
tea-parties  in  the  streets  for  their  wives;  and 
milk-and-bun  feasts  for  the  children  in  the 
schoolrooms.  For  Nomansland,  though  I  cannot 
point  it  out  in  any  map,  or  read  of  it  in  any  his- 
tory, was,  I  believe,  much  like  our  own  or  many 
another  country. 

[2] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

As  for  the  palace — which  was  no  different 
from  other  palaces — it  was  clean  "  turned  out  of 
the  windows,"  as  people  say,  with  the  prepara- 
tions going  on.  The  only  quiet  place  in  it  was  the 
room  which,  though  the  Prince  was  six  weeks 
old,  his  mother  the  Queen  had  never  quitted. 
Nobody  said  she  was  ill,  however — it  would  have 
been  so  inconvenient;  and  as  she  said  nothing 
about  it  herself,  but  lay  pale  and  placid,  giving 
no  trouble  to  anybody,  nobody  thought  much 
about  her.  All  the  world  was  absorbed  in  ad- 
miring the  baby. 

The  christening-day  came  at  last,  and  it  was 
as  lovely  as  the  Prince  himself.  All  the  people 
in  the  palace  were  lovely  too — or  thought  them- 
selves so — in  the  elegant  new  clothes  which  the 
Queen,  who  thought  of  everybody,  had  taken 
care  to  give  them,  from  the  ladies-in-waiting 
down  to  the  poor  little  kitchen-maid,  who  looked 
at  herself  in  her  pink  cotton  gown,  and  thought, 
doubtless,  that  there  never  was  such  a  pretty 
girl  as  she. 

By  six  in  the  morning  all  the  royal  household 
had  dressed  itself  in  its  very  best ;  and  then  the 
little  Prince  was  dressed  in  his  best — his  mag- 
nificent christening  robe;  which  proceeding  his 
Royal  Highness  did  not  like  at  all,  but  kicked 

[31 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

and  screamed  like  any  common  baby.  When  he 
had  a  little  calmed  down,  they  carried  him  to  be 
looked  at  by  the  Queen  his  mother,  who,  though 
her  royal  robes  had  been  brought  and  laid  upon 
the  bed,  was,  as  everybody  well  knew,  quite  un- 
able to  rise  and  put  them  on. 

She  admired  her  baby  very  much ;  kissed  and 
blessed  him,  and  lay  looking  at  him,  as  she  did  for 
hours  sometimes,  when  he  was  placed  beside  her 
fast  asleep ;  then  she  gave  him  up  with  a  gentle 
smile,  and,  saying  she  hoped  he  would  be  very 
good,  that  it  would  be  a  very  nice  christening, 
and  all  the  guests  would  enjoy  themselves, 
turned  peacefully  over  on  her  bed,  saying  noth- 
ing more  to  anybody.  She  was  a  very  uncom- 
plaining person,  the  Queen — and  her  name  was 
Dolorez. 

Everything  went  on  exactly  as  if  she  had  been 
present.  All,  even  the  king  himself,  had  grown 
used  to  her  absence ;  for  she  was  not  strong,  and 
for  years  had  not  joined  in  any  gayeties.  She 
always  did  her  royal  duties,  but  as  to  pleasures, 
they  could  go  on  quite  well  without  her,  or  it 
seemed  so.  The  company  arrived:  great  and 
notable  persons  in  this  and  neighboring  coun- 
tries; also  the  four-and-twenty  godfathers  and 
godmothers,  who  had  been  chosen  with  care,  as 

[4] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  people  who  would  be  most  useful  to  his  royal 
highness  should  he  ever  want  friends,  which  did 
not  seem  likely.  What  such  want  could  possibly 
happen  to  the  heir  of  the  powerful  monarch  of 
Nomansland  ? 

They  came,  walking  two  and  two,  with  their 
coronets  on  their  heads — being  dukes  and  duch- 
esses, princes  and  princesses,  or  the  like;  they 
all  kissed  the  child  and  pronounced  the  name 
each  had  given  him.  Then  the  four-and-twenty 
names  were  shouted  out  with  great  energy  by  six 
heralds,  one  after  the  other,  and  afterward  writ- 
ten down,  to  be  preserved  in  the  state  records, 
in  readiness  for  the  next  time  they  were  wanted, 
which  would  be  either  on  his  Royal  Highness' 
coronation  or  his  funeral. 

Soon  the  ceremony  was  over,  and  everybody 
satisfied ;  except,  perhaps,  the  little  Prince  him- 
self, who  moaned  faintly  under  his  christening 
robes,  which  nearly  smothered  him. 

In  truth,  though  very  few  knew,  the  Prince  in 
coming  to  the  chapel  had  met  with  a  slight  dis- 
aster. His  nurse, — not  his  ordinary  one,  but  the 
state  nurse-maid, — an  elegant  and  fashionable 
young  lady  of  rank,  whose  duty  it  was  to  carry 
him  to  and  from  the  chapel,  had  been  so  occupied 
in  arranging  her  train  with  one  hand,  while  she 

[5] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

held  the  baby  with  the  other,  that  she  stumbled 
and  let  him  fall,  just  at  the  foot  of  the  marble 
staircase. 

To  be  sure,  she  contrived  to  pick  him  up  again 
the  next  minute ;  and  the  accident  was  so  slight 
it  seemed  hardly  worth  speaking  of.  Conse- 
quently nobody  did  speak  of  it.  The  baby  had 
turned  deadly  pale,  but  did  not  cry,  so  no  person 
a  step  or  two  behind  could  discover  anything 
wrong;  afterward,  even  if  he  had  moaned,  the 
silver  trumpets  were  loud  enough  to  drown  his 
voice.  It  would  have  been  a  pity  to  let  anything 
trouble  such  a  day  of  felicity. 

So,  after  a  minute  ?s  pause,  the  procession  had 
moved  on.  Such  a  procession !  Heralds  in  blue 
and  silver;  pages  in  crimson  and  gold;  and  a 
troop  of  little  girls  in  dazzling  white,  carrying 
baskets  of  flowers,  which  they  strewed  all  the 
way  before  the  nurse  and  child — finally  the  f our- 
and-twenty  godfathers  and  godmothers,  as 
proud  as  possible,  and  so  splendid  to  look  at 
that  they  would  have  quite  extinguished  their 
small  godson — merely  a  heap  of  lace  and  muslin 
with  a  baby  face  inside — had  it  not  been  for  a 
canopy  of  white  satin  and  ostrich  feathers  which 
was  held  over  him  wherever  he  was  carried. 

Thus,  with  the  sun  shining  on  them  through 

[6] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  painted  windows,  they  stood ;  the  king  and 
his  train  on  one  side,  the  Prince  and  his  attend- 
ants on  the  other,  as  pretty  a  sight  as  ever  was 
seen  out  of  fairyland. 

"It's  just  like  fairyland,"  whispered  the 
eldest  little  girl  to  the  next  eldest,  as  she  shook 
the  last  rose  out  of  her  basket ;  "and  I  think  the 
only  thing  the  Prince  wants  now  is  a  fairy  god- 
mother." 

"Does  he?"  said  a  shrill  but  soft  and  not  un- 
pleasant voice  behind ;  and  there  was  seen  among 
the  group  of  children  somebody, — not  a  child, 
yet  no  bigger  than  a  child, — somebody  whom  no- 
body had  seen  before,  and  who  certainly  had  not 
been  invited,  for  she  had  no  christening  clothes 
on. 

She  was  a  little  old  woman  dressed  all  in  gray : 
gray  gown ;  gray  hooded  cloak,  of  a  material  ex- 
cessively fine,  and  a  tint  that  seemed  perpetually 
changing,  like  the  gray  of  an  evening  sky.  Her 
hair  was  gray,  and  her  eyes  also — even  her  com- 
plexion had  a  soft  gray  shadow  over  it  But 
there  was  nothing  unpleasantly  old  about  her, 
and  her  smile  was  as  sweet  and  childlike  as  the 
Prince's  own,  which  stole  over  his  pale  little 
face  the  instant  she  came  near  enough  to  touch 
him. 

[71 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"Take  care!    Don't  let  the  baby  fall  again:" 

The  grand  young  lady  nurse  started,  flushing 
angrily. 

4 '  Who  spoke  to  me  ?    How  did  anybody  know  ? 

— I   mean,   what   business   has   anybody " 

Then,  frightened,  but  still 'speaking  in  a  much 
sharper  tone  than  I  hope  young  ladies  of  rank 
are  in  the  habit  of  speaking — ' '  Old  woman,  you 
will  be  kind  enough  not  to  say  'the  baby,'  but 
'the  Prince.'  Keep  away;  his  Royal  Highness 
is  just  going  to  sleep." 

"Nevertheless  I  must  kiss  him.  I  am  his  god- 
mother." 

"You!"  cried  the  elegant  lady  nurse. 

"You!"j  repeated  all  the  gentlemen  and 
ladies-in-waiting. 

"You!"  echoed  the  heralds  and  pages — and 
they  began  to  blow  the  silver  trumpets  in  order 
to  stop  all  further  conversation. 

The  Prince's  procession  formed  itself  for  re- 
turning,— the  King  and  his  train  having  already 
moved  off  toward  the  palace, — but  on  the  top- 
most step  of  the  marble  stairs  stood,  right  in. 
front  of  all,  the  little  old  woman  clothed  in  gray. 

She  stretched  herself  on  tiptoe  by  the  help  of 
her  stick,  and  gave  the  little  Prince  three  kisses. 

"This  is  intolerable!"  cried  the  young  lady 

[81 


"Take  care!    Don't  let  the  tialy  fall  again." 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

nurse,  wiping  the  kisses  off  rapidly  with  her 
lace  handkerchief.  *  *  Such  an  insult  to  his  Royal 
Highness!  Take  yourself  out  of  the  way,  old 
woman,  or  the  King  shall  be  informed  immedi- 
ately." 

"  The  King  knows  nothing  of  me,  more's  the 
pity,"  replied  the  old  woman,  with  an  indifferent 
air,  as  if  she  thought  the  loss  was  more  on  his 
Majesty's  side  than  hers.  "My  friend  in  the 
palace  is  the  King's  wife." 

" King's  have  not  wives,  but  queens,"  said  the 
lady  nurse,  with  a  contemptuous  air. 

"You  are  right,"  replied  the  old  woman. 
" Nevertheless  I  know  her  Majesty  well,  and  I 
love  her  and  her  child.  And — since  you  dropped 
him  on  the  marble  stairs  (this  she  said  in  a 
mysterious  whisper,  which  made  the  young  lady 
tremble  in  spite  of  her  anger) — I  choose  to  take 
him  for  my  own,  and  be  his  godmother,  ready  to 
help  him  whenever  he  wants  me." 

"You  help  him !'?  cried  all  the  group  breaking 
into  shouts  of  laughter,  to  which  the  little  old 
woman  paid  not  the  slightest  attention.  Her  soft 
gray  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  Prince,  who  seemed 
to  answer  to  the  look,  smiling  again  and  again 
in  the  causeless,  aimless  fashion  that  babies  do 
smile. 

[9] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"His  Majesty  must  hear  of  this,"  said  a 
gentleman-iii-waiting. 

"His  Majesty  will  hear  quite  enough  news  in 
a  minute  or  two,"  said  the  old  woman  sadly. 
And  again  stretching  up  to  the  little  Prince,  she 
kissed  him  on  the  forehead  solemnly. 

"Be  called  by  a  new  name  which  nobody  has 
ever  thought  of.  Be  Prince  Dolor,  in  memory 
of  your  mother  Dolorez." 

"In  memory  of!"  Everybody  started  at  the 
ominous  phrase,  and  also  at  a  most  terrible 
breach  of  etiquette  which  the  old  woman  had 
committed.  In  Nomansland,  neither  the  king 
nor  the  queen  was  supposed  to  have  any  Chris- 
tian name  at  all.  They  dropped  it  on  their  coro- 
nation day,  and  it  never  was  mentioned  again  till 
it  was  engraved  on  their  coffins  when  they  died. 

"Old  woman,  you  are  exceedingly  ill-bred," 
cried  the  eldest  lady-in-waiting,  much  horrified. 
"How  you  could  know  the  fact  passes  my  com- 
prehension. But  even  if  you  did  know  it,  how 
dared  you  presume  to  hint  that  her  most  gracious 
Majesty  is  called  Dolorez  ?" 

"Was  called  Dolorez,  "J  said  the  old  woman, 
with  a  tender  solemnity. 

The  first  gentleman,  called  the  Gold-stick-in- 
waiting,  raised  it  to  strike  her,  and  all  the  rest 

110] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

stretched  out  their  hands  to  seize  her;  but  the 
gray  mantle  melted  from  between  their  lingers 
like  air;  and,  before  anybody  had  time  to  do 
anything  more,  there  came  a  heavy,  muffled, 
startling  sound. 

The  great  bell  of  the  palace — the  bell  which 
was  only  heard  on  the  death  of  some  one  of  the 
royal  family,  and  for  as  many  times  as  he  or  she 
was  years  old — began  to  toll.  They  listened, 
mute  and  horror-stricken.  Some  one  counted: 
one — two — three — four — up  to  nine-and-twenty 
— just  the  Queen's  age. 

It  was,  indeed,  the  Queen.  Her  Majesty  was 
dead!  In  the  midst  of  the  festivities  she  had 
slipped  away  out  of  her  new  happiness  and  her 
old  sufferings,  not  few  nor  small.  Sending  away 
all  her  women  to  see  the  grand  sight, — at  least 
they  said  afterward,  in  excuse,  that  she  had  done 
so,  and  it  was  very  like  her  to  do  it, — she  had 
turned  with  her  face  to  the  window,  whence  one 
could  just  see  the  tops  of  the  distant  mountains 
— the  Beautiful  Mountains,  as  they  were  called 
— where  she  was  born.  So  gazing,  she  had 
quietly  died. 

When  the  little  Prince  was  carried  back  to 
his  mother's  room,  there  was  no  mother  to  kiss 
him.  And,  though  he  did  not  know  it,  there 

[11] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

would  be  for  him  no  mother's  kiss  any  more. 

As  for  his  godmother, — the  little  old  woman 
in  gray  who  called  herself  so, — whether  she 
melted  into  air,  like  her  gown  when  they  touched 
it,  or  whether  she  flew  out  of  the  chapel  window, 
or  slipped  through  the  doorway  among  the  be- 
wildered crowd,  nobody  knew — nobody  ever 
thought  about  her. 

Only  the  nurse,  the  ordinary  homely  one, 
coming  out  of  the  Prince 's  nursery  in  the  middle 
of  the  night  in  search  of  a  cordial  to  quiet  his 
continual  moans,  saw,  sitting  in  the  doorway, 
something  which  she  would  have  thought  a  mere 
shadow,  had  she  not  seen  shining  out  of  it  two 
eyes,  gray  and  soft  and  sweet.  She  put  her 
hand  before  her  own,  screaming  loudly.  When 
she  took  them  away  the  old  woman  was  gone. 


112J 


CHAPTER  H 

EVERYBODY  was  very  kind  to  the  poor 
little  prince.    I  think  people  generally 
are     kind     to     motherless     children, 
whether  princes  or  peasants.  He  had  a 
magnificent  nursery  and  a  regular  suite  of  at- 
tendants, and  was  treated  with  the  greatest  re- 
spect and  state.    Nobody  was  allowed  to  talk,  to 
him  in  silly  baby  language,  or  dandle  him,  or, 
above  all  to  kiss  him,  though  perhaps  some 
people  did  it  surreptitiously,  for  he  was  such  a 
sweet  baby  that  it  was  difficult  to  help  it. 

It  could  not  be  said  that  the  Prince  missed 
his  mother — children  of  his  age  cannot  do  that ; 
but  somehow  after  she  died  everything  seemed  to 
go  wrong  with  him.  From  a  beautiful  baby  he 
became  sickly  and  pale,  seeming  to  have  almost 
ceased  growing,  especially  in  his  legs,  which  had 
been  so  fat  and  strong. 

But  after  the  day  of  his  christening  they  with- 
ered and  shrank ;  he  no  longer  kicked  them  out 
either  in  passion  or  play,  and  when,  as  he  got  to 
be  nearly  a  year  old,  his  nurse  tried  to  make  him 
stand  upon  them,  he  only  tumbled  down. 

[131 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

This  happened  so  many  times  that  at  last 
people  began  to  talk  about  it.  A  prince,  and  not 
able  to  stand  on  his  own  legs !  What  a  dreadful 
thing!  What  a  misfortune  for  the  country! 

Rather  a  misfortune  to  him  also,  poor  little 
boy!  but  nobody  seemed  to  think  of  that.  And 
when,  after  a  while,  his  health  revived,  and  the 
old  bright  look  came  back  to  his  sweet  little  face, 
and  his  body  grew  larger  and  stronger,  though 
still  his  legs  remained  the  same,  people  continued 
to  speak  of  him  in  whispers,  and  with  grave 
shakes  of  the  head.  Everybody  knew,  though 
nobody  said  it,  that  something,  it  was  impossible 
to  guess  what,  was  not  quite  right  with  the  poor 
little  Prince. 

Of  course,  nobody  hinted  this  to  the  King  his 
father:  it  does  not  do  to  tell  great  people  any- 
thing unpleasant.  And  besides,  his  Majesty 
took  very  little  notice  of  his  son,  or  of  his  other 
affairs,  beyond  the  necessary  duties  of  his  king- 
dom. 

People  had  said  he  would  not  miss  the  Queen 
at  all,  she  having  been  so  long  an  invalid,  but  he 
did.  After  her  death  he  never  was  quite  the 
same.  He  established  himself  in  her  empty 
rooms,  the  only  rooms  in  the  palace  whence  one 
could  see  the  Beautiful  Mountains,  and  was 

[14] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

often  observed  looking  at  them  as  if  he  thought 
she  had  flown  away  thither,  and  that  his  longing 
could  bring  her  back  again.  And  by  a  curious 
coincidence,  which  nobody  dared  inquire  into, 
he  desired  that  the  Prince  might  be  called,  not 
by  any  of  the  four-and-twenty  grand  names 
given  him  by  his  godfathers  and  godmothers,  but 
by  the  identical  name  mentioned  by  the  little  old 
woman  in  gray — Dolor,  after  his  mother  Dolorez. 

Once  a  week,  according  to  established  state 
custom,  the  Prince,  dressed  in  his  very  best,  was 
brought  to  the  King  his  father  for  half  an  hour, 
but  his  Majesty  was  generally  too  ill  and  too  mel- 
ancholy to  pay  much  heed  to  the  child. 

Only  once,  when  he  and  the  Crown-Prince, 
who  was  exceedingly  attentive  to  his  royal 
brother,  were  sitting  together,  with  Prince 
Dolor  playing  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  dragging 
himself  about  with  his  arms  rather  than  his  legs, 
and  sometimes  trying  feebly  to  crawl  from  one 
chair  to  another,  it  seemed  to  strike  the  father 
that  all  was  not  right  with  his  son. 

"How  old  is  his  Royal  Highness?'-  said  he 
suddenly  to  the  nurse. 

"Two  years,  three  months,  and  five  days, 
please  your  Majesty." 

"It  does  not  please  me/:?  said  the  King,  with 

[15] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

a  sigh.  "He  ought  to  be  far  more  forward  than 
he  is  now — ought  he  not,  brother?  You,  who 
have  so  many  children,  must  know.  Is  there  not 
something  wrong  about  him?" 

"Oh,  no,'1  said  the  Crown-Prince,  exchanging 
meaning  looks  with  the  nurse,  who  did  not 
understand  at  all,  but  stood  frightened  and  trem- 
bling with  the  tears  in  her  eyes.  "Nothing  to 
make  your  Majesty  at  all  uneasy.  No  doubt  his 
Royal  Highness  will  outgrow  it  in  time.'^ 

"Outgrow— what?" 

"A  slight  delicacy — ahem! — in  the  spine; 
something  inherited,  perhaps,  from  his  dear 
mother." 

"Ah,  she  was  always  delicate ;  but  she  was  the 
sweetest  woman  that  ever  lived.  Come  here,  my 
little  son." 

And  as  the  Prince  turned  round  upon  his 
father  a  small,  sweet,  grave  face, — so  like  his 
mother's, — his  Majesty  the  King  smiled  and 
held  out  his  arms.  But  when  the  boy  came  to 
him,  not  running  like  a  boy,  but  wriggling  awk- 
wardly along  the  floor,  the  royal  countenance 
clouded  over. 

"I  ought  to  have  been  told  of  this.  It  is  ter- 
rible— terrible !  And  for  a  prince  too.  Send  for 
all  the  doctors  in  my  kingdom  immediately." 

[161 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

They  came,  and  each  gave  a  different  opinion 
and  ordered  a  different  mode  of  treatment.  The 
only  thing  they  agreed  in  was  what  had  been 
pretty  well  known  before,  that  the  Prince  must 
have  been  hurt  when  he  was  an  infant — let  fall, 
perhaps,  so  as  to  injure  his  spine  and  lower 
limbs.  Did  nobody  remember  ? 

No,  nobody.  Indignantly,  all  fhe  nurses 
denied  that  any  such  accident  had  happened,  was 
possible  to  have  happened,  until  the  faithful 
country  nurse  recollected  that  it  really  had  hap- 
pened on  the  day  of  the  christening.  For  which 
unluckily  good  memory  all  the  others  scolded  her 
so  severely  that  she  had  no  peace  of  her  life,  and 
soon  after,  by  the  influence  of  the  young  lady 
nurse  who  had  carried  the  baby  that  fatal  day, 
and  who  was  a  sort  of  connection  of  the  Crown- 
Prince — being  his  wife's  second  cousin  once 
removed — the  poor  woman  was  pensioned  on* 
and  sent  to  the  Beautiful  Mountains  from 
whence  she  came,  with  orders  to  remain  there 
for  the  rest  of  her  days. 

But  of  all  this  the  King  knew  nothing,  for, 
indeed,  after  the  first  shock  of  finding  out  that 
his  son  could  not  walk,  and  seemed  never  likely 
to  walk,  he  interfered  very  little  concerning  him. 
The  whole  thing  was  too  painful,  and  his  Majesty 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

never  liked  painful  things.  Sometimes  he  in- 
quired after  Prince  Dolor,  and  they  told  him  his 
Royal  Highness  was  going  on  as  well  as  could  be 
expected,  which  really  was  the  case.  For,  after 
worrying  the  poor  child  and  perplexing  them- 
selves with  one  remedy  after  another,  the  Crown- 
Prince,  not  wishing  to  offend  any  of  the 
differing  doctors,  had  proposed  leaving  him  to 
Nature ;  and  Nature,  the  safest  doctor  of  all,  had 
come  to  his  help  and  done  her  best. 

He  could  not  walk,  it  is  true ;  his  limbs  were 
mere  useless  appendages  to  his  body;  but  the 
body  itself  was  strong  and  sound.  And  his  face 
was  the  same  as  ever — just  his  mother's  face, 
one  of  the  sweetest  in  the  world. 

Even  the  King,  indifferent  as  he  was,  some- 
times looked  at  the  little  fellow  with  sad  tender- 
ness, noticing  how  cleverly  he  learned  to  crawl 
and  swing  himself  about  by  his  arms,  so  that  in 
his  own  awkward  way  he  was  as  active  in  motion 
as  most  children  of  his  age. 

"Poor  little  man!  he  does  his  best,  and  he  is 
not  unhappy — not  half  so  unhappy  as  I, 
brother,"  addressing  the  Crown-Prince,  who 
was  more  constant  than  ever  in  his  attendance 
upon  the  sick  monarch.  "If  anything  should 
befall  me,  I  have  appointed  you  Regent.  In  case 

[18] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

of  my  death,  you  will  take  care  of  my  poor  little 
boy?" 

" Certainly,  certainly;  but  do  not  let  us  imag- 
ine any  such  misfortune.  I  assure  your  Majesty 
— everybody  will  assure  you — that  it  is  not  in  the 
least  likely. " 

He  knew,  however,  and  everybody  knew,  that 
it  was  likely,  and  soon  after  it  actually  did  hap- 
pen. The  King  died  as  suddenly  and  quietly  as 
the  Queen  had  done — indeed,  in  her  very  room 
and  bed;  and  Prince  Dolor  was  left  without 
either  father  or  mother — as  sad  a  thing  as  could 
happen,  even  to  a  prince. 

He  was  more  than  that  now,  though.  He  was 
a  king.  In  Nomansland,  as  in  other  countries, 
the  people  were  struck  with  grief  one  day  and 
revived  the  next.  "The  king  is  dead — long  live 
the  king!"-  was  the  cry  that  rang  through  the 
nation,  and  almost  before  his  late  Majesty  had 
been  laid  beside  the  Queen  in  their  splendid  mau- 
soleum, crowds  came  thronging  from  all  parts 
to  the  royal  palace,  eager  to  see  the  new  monarch. 

They  did  see  him, — the  Prince  Regent  took 
care  they  should, — sitting  on  the  floor  of  the 
council  chamber,  sucking  his  thumb !  And  when 
one  of  the  gentlemen-in-waiting  lifted  him  up 
and  carried  him — fancy  carrying  a  king ! — to  the 

[19] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

chair  of  state,  and  put  the  crown  on  his  head,  he 
shook  it  off  again,  it  was  so  heavy  and  uncom- 
fortable. Sliding  down  to  the  foot  of  the  throne 
he  began  playing  with  the  golden  lions  that  sup- 
ported it,  stroking  their  paws  and  putting  his 
tiny  fingers  into  their  eyes,  and  laughing — laugh- 
ing as  if  he  had  at  last  found  something  to  amuse 
him. 

" There's  a  fine  king  for  you!"  said  the  first 
lord-in-waiting,  a  friend  of  the  Prince  Regent's 
(the  Crown-Prince  that  used  to  be,  who,  in  the 
deepest  mourning,  stood  silently  beside  the 
throne  of  his  young  nephew.  He  was  a  hand- 
some man,  very  grand  and  clever-looking). 
"What  a  king!  who  can  never  stand  to  receive 
his  subjects,  never  walk  in  processions,  who  to 
the  last  day  of  his  life  will  have  to  be  carried 
about  like  a  baby.  Very  unfortunate ! ' ' 

4  *  Exceedingly  unfortunate,"  repeated  the 
second  lord.  "It  is  always  bad  for  a  nation  when 
its  king  is  a  child ;  but  such  a  child — a  permanent 
cripple,  if  not  worse." 

"Let  us  hope  not  worse,"  said  the  first  lord 
in  a  very  hopeless  tone,  and  looking  toward  the 
Regent,  who  stood  erect  and  pretended  to  hear 
nothing.  "I  have  heard  that  these  sort  of  chil- 
dren with  very  large  heads,  and  great  broad  f  ore- 

[20] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

heads  and  staring  eyes,  are — well,  well,  let  us 
hope  for  the  best  and  be  prepared  for  the  worst. 
In  the  meantime '-" 

"I  swear,"  said  the  Crown-Prince,  coming 
forward  and  kissing  the  hilt  of  his  sword — "I 
swear  to  perform  my  duties  as  Regent,  to  take 
all  care  of  his  Royal  Highness — his  Majesty,  I 
mean/'  with  a  grand  bow  to  the  little  child,  who 
laughed  innocently  back  again.  "And  I  will  do 
my  humble  best  to  govern  the  country.  Still,  if 
the  country  has  the  slightest  objection ••'* 

But  the  Crown-Prince  being  generalissimo, 
having  the  whole  army  at  his  beck  and  call,  so 
that  he  could  have  begun  a  civil  war  in  no  time, 
the  country  had,  of  course,  not  the  slightest  ob- 
jection. 

So  the  King  and  Queen  slept  together  in  peace, 
and  Prince  Dolor  reigned  over  the  land — that  is, 
his  uncle  did;  and  everybody  said  what  a  for- 
tunate thing  it  was  for  the  poor  little  Prince  to 
have  such  a  clever  uncle  to  take  care  of  him. 

All  things  went  on  as  usual ;  indeed,  after  the 
Regent  had  brought  his  wife  and  her  seven  sons, 
and  established  them  in  the  palace,  rather  better 
than  usual.  For  they  gave  such  splendid  enter- 
tainments and  made  the  capital  so  lively  that 
trade  revived,  and  the  country  was  said  to  be 

1920)  [21] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

more  flourishing  than  it  had  been  for  a  century. 

Whenever  the  Regent  and  his  sons  appeared, 
they  were  received  with  shouts:  "Long  live  the 
Crown-Prince!"  "Long  live  the  royal  family!" 
And,  in  truth,  they  were  very  fine  children,  the 
whole  seven  of  them,  and  made  a  great  show 
when  they  rode  out  together  on  seven  beautiful 
horses,  one  height  above  another,  down  to  the 
youngest,  on  his  tiny  black  pony,  no  bigger  than 
a  large  dog. 

As  for  the  other  child,  Ms  Royal  Highness 
Prince  Dolor, — for  somehow  people  soon  ceased 
to  call  him  his  Majesty,  which  seemed  such  a 
ridiculous  title  for  a  poor  little  fellow,  a  help- 
less cripple, — with  only  head  and  trunk,  and  no 
legs  to  speak  of, — he  was  seen  very  seldom  by 
anybody. 

Sometimes  people  daring  enough  to  peer  over 
the  high  wall  of  the  palace  garden  noticed  there, 
carried  in  a  footman's  arms,  or  drawn  in  a  chair, 
or  left  to  play  on  the  grass,  often  with  nobody  to 
mind  him,  a  pretty  little  boy,  with  a  bright,  in- 
telligent face  and  large,  melancholy  eyes — no, 
not  exactly  melancholy,  for  they  were  his 
mother's,  and  she  was  by  no  means  sad-minded, 
but  thoughtful  and  dreamy.  They  rather  per- 
plexed people,  those  childish  eyes ;  they  were  so 

[221 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

exceedingly  innocent  and  yet  so  penetrating. 
If  anybody  did  a  wrong  thing — told  a  lie,  for 
instance — they  would  turn  round  with  such  a 
grave,  silent  surprise — the  child  never  talked 
much — that  every  naughty  person  in  the  palace 
was  rather  afraid  of  Prince  Dolor. 

He  could  not  help  it,  and  perhaps  he  did  not 
even  know  it,  being  no  better  a  child  than  many 
other  children,  but  there  was  something  about 
him  which  made  bad  people  sorry,  and  grum- 
bling people  ashamed  of  themselves,  and  ill- 
natured  people  gentle  and  kind. 

I  suppose  because  they  were  touched  to  see  a 
poor  little  fellow  who  did  not  in  the  least  know 
what  had  befallen  him  or  what  lay  before  him, 
living  his  baby  life  as  happy  as  the  day  is  long. 
Thus,  whether  or  not  he  was  good  himself,  the 
sight  of  him  and  his  affliction  made  other  people 
good,  and,  above  all,  made  everybody  love  him 
— so  much  so,  that  his  uncle  the  Regent  began 
to  feel  a  little  uncomfortable. 

Now,  I  have  nothing  to  say  against  uncles  in 
general.  They  are  usually  very  excellent 
people,  and  very  convenient  to  little  boys  and 
girls.  Even  the  " cruel  uncle"  of  the  " Babes  in 
the  Wood"  I  believe  to  be  quite  an  exceptional 

[23] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

character.  And  this  " cruel  uncle"  of  whom  I 
am  telling  was,  I  hope,  an  exception,  too. 

He  did  not  mean  to  be  cruel.  If  anybody  had 
called  him  so,  he  would  have  resented  it  ex- 
tremely: he  would  have  said  that  what  he  did 
was  done  entirely  for  the  good  of  the  country. 
But  he  was  a  man  who  had  always  been  ac- 
customed to  consider  himself  first  and  foremost, 
believing  that  whatever  he  wanted  was  sure  to 
be  right,  and  therefore  he  ought  to  have  it.  So 
he  tried  to  get  it,  and  got  it  too,-  as  people  like 
him  very  often  do.  Whether  they  enjoy  it  when 
they  have  it  is  another  question. 

Therefore  he  went  one  day  to  the  council 
chamber,  determined  on  making  a  speech,  and 
informing  the  ministers  and  the  country  at 
large  that  the  young  King  was  in  failing  health, 
and  that  it  would  be  advisable  to  send  him  for  a 
time  to  the  Beautiful  Mountains.  Whether  he 
really  meant  to  do  this,  or  whether  it  occurred 
to  him  afterward  that  there  would  be  an  easier 
way  of  attaining  his  great  desire,  the  crown  of 
Nomansland,  is  a  point  which  I  cannot  decide. 

But  soon  after,  when  he  had  obtained  an 
order  in  council  to  send  the  King  away, — which 
was  done  in  great  state,  with  a  guard  of  honor 
composed  of  two  whole  regiments  of  soldiers, — 

[24] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  nation  learned,  without  much  surprise,  that 
the  poor  little  Prince — nobody  ever  called  him 
king  now — had  gone  a  much  longer  journey 
than  to  the  Beautiful  Mountains. 

He  had  fallen  ill  on  the  road  and  died  within 
a  few  hours;  at  least  so  declared  the  physician 
in  attendance  and  the  nurse  who  had  been  sent 
to  take  care  of  him.  They  brought  his  coffin 
back  in  great  state,  and  buried  it  in  the  mauso- 
leum with  his  parents. 

So  Prince  Dolor  was  seen  no  more.  The 
country  went  into  deep  mourning  for  him,  and 
then  forgot  him,  and  his  uncle  reigned  in  his 
stead.  That  illustrious  personage  accepted  his 
crown  with  great  decorum,  and  wore  it  with 
great  dignity  to  the  last.  But  whether  he  en- 
joyed it  or  not  there  is  no  evidence  to  show. 


f25] 


CHAPTER  HI 

AND  what  of  the  little  lame  Prince, 
whom  everybody  seemed  so  easily  to 
have  forgotten? 

Not  everybody.  There  were  a  few 
kind  souls,  mothers  of  families,  who  had  heard 
Ms  sad  story,  and  some  servants  about  the  palace, 
who  had  been  familiar  with  his  sweet  ways — 
these  many  a  time  sighed  and  said,  "Poor 
Prince  Dolor!"  Or,  looking  at  the  Beautiful 
Mountains,  which  were  visible  all  over  Nomans- 
land,  though  few  people  ever  visited  them, 
"Well,  perhaps  his  Royal  Highness  is  better 
where  he  is  than  even  there/' 

They  did  not  know — indeed,  hardly  anybody 
<lid  know — that  beyond  the  mountains,  between 
them  and  the  sea,  lay  a  tract  of  country,  barren, 
level,  bare,  except  for  short,  stunted  grass,  and 
here  and  there  a  patch  of  tiny  flowers.  Not  a 
bush — not  a  tree — not  a  resting  place  for  bird 
or  beast  was  in  that  dreary  plain.  In  summer 
the  sunshine  fell  upon  it  hour  after  hour  with  a 
blinding  glare;  in  winter  the  winds  and  rains 

126] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

swept  over  it  unhindered,  and  the  snow  came 
down  steadily,  noiselessly,  covering  it  from  end 
to  end  in  one  great  white  sheet,  which  lay  for 
days  and  weeks  unmarked  by  a  single  footprint. 

Not  a  pleasant  place  to  live  in — and  nobody 
did  live  there,  apparently.  The  only  sign  that 
human  creatures  had  ever  been  near  the  spot 
was  one  large  round  tower  which  rose  up  in  the 
center  of  the  plain,  and  might  be  seen  all  over 
it — if  there  had  been  anybody  to  see,  which  there 
never  was.  Rose  right  up  out  of  the  ground,  as 
if  it  had  grown  of  itself,  like  a  mushroom.  But 
it  was  not  at  all  mushroom-like ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  was  very  solidly  built.  In  form  it  resembled 
the  Irish  round  towers,  which  have  puzzled 
people  for  so  long,  nobody  being  able  to  find  out 
when,  or  by  whom,  or  for  what  purpose  they 
were  made ;  seemingly  for  no  use  at  all,  like  this 
tower.  It  was  circular,  of  very  firm  brickwork, 
with  neither  doors  nor  windows,  until  near  the 
top,  when  you  could  perceive  some  slits  in  the 
wall  through  which  one  might  possibly  creep  in 
or  look  out.  Its  height  was  nearly  a  hundred 
feet,  and  it  had  a  battlemented  parapet  show- 
ing sharp  against  the  sky. 

As  the  plain  was  quite  desolate — almost  like 
a  desert,  only  without  sand,  and  led  to  nowhere 

[27] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

except  the  still  more  desolate  seacoast — nobody 
ever  crossed  it.  Whatever  mystery  there  was 
about  the  tower,  it  and  the  sky  and  the  plain 
kept  their  secret  to  themselves. 

It  was  a  very  great  secret  indeed, — a  state 
secret, — which  none  but  so  clever  a  man  as  the 
present  King  of  Nomansland  would  ever  have 
thought  of.  How  he  carried  it  out,  undis- 
covered, I  cannot  tell.  People  said,  long  after- 
ward, that  it  was  by  means  of  a  gang  of 
condemned  criminals,  who  were  set  to  work,  and 
executed  immediately  after  they  had  done,  so 
that  nobody  knew  anything,  or  in  the  least  sus- 
pected the  real  fact. 

And  what  was  the  fact?  Why,  that  this 
tower,  which  seemed  a  mere  mass  of  masonry, 
utterly  forsaken  and  uninhabited,  was  not  so  at 
all.  Within  twenty  feet  of  the  top  some  in- 
genious architect  had  planned  a  perfect  little 
house,  divided  into  four  rooms — as  by  drawing 
a  cross  within  a  circle  you  will  see  might  easily 
be  done.  By  making  skylights,  and  a  few  slits 
in  the  walls  for  windows,  and  raising  a  peaked 
roof  which  was  hidden  by  the  parapet,  here  was 
a  dwelling  complete,  eighty  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  as  inaccessible  as  a  rook's  nest  on 
the  top  of  a  tree. 

[28] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

A  charming  place  to  live  in!  if  you  once  got 
up  there, — and  never  wanted  to  come  down 
again. 

Inside — though  nobody  could  have  looked  in- 
side except  a  bird,  and  hardly  even  a  bird  flew 
past  that  lonely  tower — inside  it  was  furnished 
with  all  the  comfort  and  elegance  imaginable; 
with  lots  of  books  and  toys,  and  everything  that 
the  heart  of  a  child  could  desire.  For  its  only  in- 
habitant, except  a  nurse  of  course,  was  a  poor 
solitary  child. 

One  winter  night,  when  all  the  plain  was 
white  with  moonlight,  there  was  seen  crossing 
it  a  great  tall  black  horse,  ridden  by  a  man  also 
big  and  equally  black,  carrying  before  him  on 
the  saddle  a  woman  and  a  child.  The  woman — 
she  had  a  sad,  fierce  look,  and  no  wonder,  for 
she  was  a  criminal  under  sentence  of  death,  but 
her  sentence  had  been  changed  to  almost  as 
severe  a  punishment.  She  was  to  inhabit  the 
lonely  tower  with  the  child,  and  was  allowed  to 
live  as  long  as  the  child  lived — no  longer.  This 
in  order  that  she  might  take  the  utmost  care  of 
him;  for  those  who  put  him  there  were  equally 
afraid  of  his  dying  and  of  his  living. 

Yet  he  was  only  a  little  gentle  boy,  with  a 
sweet,  sleepy  smile — he  had  been  very  tired  with 

[29] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Ms  long  journey — and  clinging  arms,  which 
held  tight  to  the  man's  neck,  for  he  was  rather 
frightened,  and  the  face,  black  as  it  was,  looked 
kindly  at  him.  And  he  was  very  helpless,  with 
his  poor,  small  shriveled  legs,  which  could 
neither  stand  nor  run  away — for  the  little  for- 
lorn boy  was  Prince  Dolor. 

He  had  not  been  dead  at  all — or  buried  either. 
His  grand  funeral  had  been  a  mere  pretense :  a 
wax  figure  having  been  put  in  his  place,  while 
he  himself  was  spirited  away  under  charge  of 
these  two,  the  condemned  woman  and  the  black 
man.  The  latter  was  deaf  and  dumb,  so  could 
neither  tell  nor  repeat  anything. 

When  they  reached  the  foot  of  the  tower, 
there  was  light  enough  to  see  a  huge  chain 
dangling  from  the  parapet,  but  dangling  only 
halfway.  The  deaf-mute  took  from  his  saddle- 
wallet  a  sort  of  ladder,  arranged  in  pieces  like 
a  puzzle,  fitted  it  together,  and  lifted  it  up  to 
meet  the  chain.  Then  he  mounted  to  the  top  of 
the  tower,  and  slung  from  it  a  sort  of  chair,  in 
which  the  woman  and  the  child  placed  them- 
selves and  were  drawn  up,  never  to  come  down 
again  as  long  as  they  lived.  Leaving  them  there, 
the  man  descended  the  ladder,  took  it  to  pieces 

[30] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

again  and  packed  it  in  his  pack,  mounted  the 
horse  and  disappeared  across  the  plain. 

Every  month  they  used  to  watch  for  him, 
appearing  like  a  speck  in  the  distance.  He 
fastened  his  horse  to  the  foot  of  the  tower,  and 
climbed  it,  as  before,  laden  with  provisions  and 
many  other  things.  He  always  saw  the  Prince, 
so  as  to  make  sure  that  the  child  was  alive  and 
well,  and  then  went  away  until  the  following 
month. 

While  his  first  childhood  lasted  Prince  Dolor 
was  happy  enough.  He  had  every  luxury  that 
even  a  prince  could  need,  and  the  one  thing 
wanting, — love, — never  having  known,  he  did 
not  miss.  His  nurse  was  very  kind  to  him 
though  she  was  a  wicked  woman.  But  either 
she  had  not  been  quite  so  wicked  as  people  said, 
or  she  grew  better  through  being  shut  up  con- 
tinually with  a  little  innocent  child  who  was  de- 
pendent upon  her  for  every  comfort  and 
pleasure  of  his  life. 

It  was  not  an  unhappy  life.  There  was  no- 
body to  tease  or  ill-use  him,  and  he  was  never  ilL 
He  played  about  from  room  to  room — there 
were  four  rooms,  parlor,  kitchen,  his  nurse's 
'bedroom,  and  his  own;  learned  to  crawl  like  a 
fly,  and  to  jump  like  a  frog,  and  to  run  about  on 

[31] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

all-fours  almost  as  fast  as  a  puppy.  In  fact,  lie 
was  very  much  like  a  puppy  or  a  kitten,  as 
thoughtless  and  as  merry — scarcely  ever  cross, 
though  sometimes  a  little  weary. 

As  he  grew  older,  he  occasionally  liked  to  be 
quiet  for  a  while,  and  then  he  would  sit  at  the 
slits  of  windows — which  were,  however,  much 
bigger  than  they  looked  from  the  bottom  of  the 
tower — and  watch  the  sky  above  and  the  ground 
below,  with  the  storms  sweeping  over  and  the 
sunshine  coming  and  going,  and  the  shadows  of 
the  clouds  running  races  across  the  blank  plain. 

By  and  by  he  began  to  learn  lessons — not  that 
his  nurse  had  been  ordered  to  teach  him,  but  she 
did  it  partly  to  amuse  herself.  She  was  not  a 
stupid  woman,  and  Prince  Dolor  was  by  no 
means  a  stupid  boy;  so  they  got  on  very  well, 
and  his  continual  entreaty,  "What  can  I  do? 
what  can  you  find  me  to  do?"  was  stopped,  at 
least  for  an  hour  or  two  in  the  day. 

It  was  a  dull  life,  but  he  had  never  known  any 
other ;  anyhow,  he  remembered  no  other,  and  he 
did  not  pity  himself  at  all.  Not  for  a  long  time, 
till  he  grew  quite  a  big  little  boy,  and  could  read 
quite  easily.  Then  he  suddenly  took  to  books, 
which  the  deaf-mute  brought  him  from  time  to 
time — books  which,  not  being  acquainted  with 

[32] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  literature  of  Nomansland,  I  cannot  describe, 
but  no  doubt  they  were  very  interesting;  and 
they  informed  him  of  everything  in  the  outside 
world,  and  filled  him  with  an  intense  longing  to 
see  it. 

Prom  this  time  a  change  came  over  the  boy. 
He  began  to  look  sad  and  thin,  and  to  shut  him- 
self up  for  hours  without  speaking.  For  his 
nurse  hardly  spoke,  and  whatever  questions  he 
asked  beyond  their  ordinary  daily  life  she  never 
answered.  She  had,  indeed,  been  forbidden,  on 
pain  of  death,  to  tell  him  anything  about  him- 
self, who  he  was,  or  what  he  might  have  been. 

He  knew  he  was  Prince  Dolor,  because  she 
always  addressed  him  as  "My  Prince"  and 
"Your  Royal  Highness,"  but  what  a  prince  was 
he  had  not  the  least  idea.  He  had  no  idea  of 
anything  in  the  world,  except  what  he  found  in 
his  books. 

He  sat  one  day  surrounded  by  them,  having 
built  them  up  round  him  like  a  little  castle  wall. 
He  had  been  reading  them  half  the  day,  but 
feeling  all  the  while  that  to  read  about  things 
which  you  never  can  see  is  like  hearing  about  a 
beautiful  dinner  while  you  are  starving.  For 
almost  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  grew  mel- 
ancholy ;  his  hands  fell  on  his  lap ;  he  sat  gazing 

[33] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

out  of  the  window-slit  upon  the  view  outside — 
the  view  he  had  looked  at  every  day  of  his  life, 
and  might  look  at  for  endless  days  more. 

Not  a  very  cheerful  view, — just  the  plain  and 
the  sky, — but  he  liked  it.  He  used  to  think,  if 
he  could  only  fly  out  of  that  window,  up  to  the 
sky  or  down  to  the  plain,  how  nice  it  would  be ! 
Perhaps  when  he  died — his  nurse  had  told  him 
once  in  anger  that  he  would  never  leave  the 
tower  till  he  died — he  might  be  able  to  do  this. 
Not  that  he  understood  much  what  dying  meant, 
but  it  must  be  a  change,  and  any  change  seemed 
to  him  a  blessing. 

"And  I  wish  I  had  somebody  to  tell  me  all 
about  it — about  that  and  many  other  things; 
somebody  that  would  be  fond  of  me,  like  my 
poor  white  kitten." 

Here  the  tears  came  into  his  eyes,  for  the 
boy's  one  friend,  the  one  interest  of  his  life,  had 
been  a  little  white  kitten,  which  the  deaf-mute, 
kindly  smiling,  once  took  out  of  his  pocket  and 
gave  him — the  only  living  creature  Prince 
Dolor  had  ever  seen. 

For  four  weeks  it  was  his  constant  plaything 
and  companion,  till  one  moonlight  night  it  took 
a  fancy  for  wandering,  climbed  on  to  the  par- 
apet of  the  tower,  dropped  over  and  disap- 

[34] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

peared.  It  was  not  killed,  he  hoped,  for  cats 
have  nine  lives;  indeed,  he  almost  fancied  he 
saw  it  pick  itself  up  and  scamper  away ;  but  he 
never  caught  sight  of  it  more. 

"Yes,  I  wish  I  had  something  better  than  a 
kitten — a  person,  a  real  live  person,  who  would 
be  fond  of  me  and  kind  to  me.  Oh,  I  want  some- 
body— dreadfully,  dreadfully ! ' ' 

As  he  spoke,  there  sounded  behind  him  a 
slight  tap-tap-tap,  as  of  a  stick  or  a  cane,  and 
twisting  himself  round,  he  saw — what  do  you 
think  he  saw  ? 

Nothing  either  frightening  or  ugly,  but  still 
exceedingly  curious.  A  little  woman,  no  bigger 
than  he  might  himself  have  been  had  his  legs 
grown  like  those  of  other  children ;  but  she  was 
not  a  child — she  was  an  old  woman.  Her  hair 
was  gray,  and  her  dress  was  gray,  and  there 
was  a  gray  shadow  over  her  wherever  she 
moved.  But  she  had  the  sweetest  smile,  the 
prettiest  hands,  and  when  she  spoke  it  was  in 
the  softest  voice  imaginable. 

"My  dear  little  boy," — and  dropping  her 
cane,  the  only  bright  and  rich  thing  about  her, 
she  laid  those  two  tiny  hands  on  his  shoulders, 
— "my  own  little  boy,  I  could  not  come  to  you 

[35] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

until  you  had  said  you  wanted  me ;  but  now  you 
do  want  me,  here  I  am." 

"  And  you  are  very  welcome,  madam, "  replied 
the  Prince,  trying  to  speak  politely,  as  princes 
always  did  in  books;  "and  I  am  exceedingly 
obliged  to  you.  May  I  ask  who  you  are  ?  Per- 
haps my  mother  1 ' '  For  he  knew  that  little  boys 
usually  had  a  mother,  and  had  occasionally  won- 
dered what  had  become  of  his  own. 

"No,"  said  the  visitor,  with  a  tender,  half- 
sad  smile,  putting  back  the  hair  from  his  fore- 
head, and  looking  right  into  his  eyes — "no,  I  am 
not  your  mother,  though  she  was  a  dear  friend 
of  mine ;  and  you  are  as  like  her  as  ever  you  can 
be." 

"Will  you  tell  her  to  come  and  see  me,  then?" 

"She  cannot;  but  I  dare  say  she  knows  all 
about  you.  And  she  loves  you  very  much — and 
so  do  I;  and  I  want  to  help  you  all  I  can, 
my  poor  little  boy." 

"Why  do  you  call  me  poor?"  asked  Prince 
Dolor,  in  surprise. 

*  The  little  old  woman  glanced  down  on  his  legs 
and  feet,  which  he  did  not  know  were  different 
from  those  of  other  children,  and  then  at  his 
sweet,  bright  face,  which,  though  he  knew  not 
that  either,  was  exceedingly  different  from 

[36] 


many  children's  faces,  which  are  often  so  fret- 
ful, cross,  sullen.  Looking  at  him,  instead  of 
sighing,  she  smiled.  "I  beg  your  pardon,  my 
Prince,"  said  she. 

"Yes,  I  am  a  prince,  and  my  name  is  Dolor; 
will  you  tell  me  yours,  madam*?" 

The  little  old  woman  laughed  like  a  chime  of 
silver  bells. 

"I  have  not  got  a  name — or,  rather,  I  have  so 
many  names  that  I  don't  know  which  to  choose. 
However,  it  was  I  who  gave  you  yours,  and  you 
will  belong  to  me  all  your  days.  I  am  your  god- 
mother." 

" Hurrah!"  cried  the  little  Prince;  "I  am 
glad  I  belong  to  you,  for  I  like  you  very  much. 
Will  you  come  and  play  with  me?" 

So  they  sat  down  together  and  played.  By 
and  by  they  began  to  talk. 

"Are  you  very  dull  here  ?"  asked  the  little  old 
woman. 

"Not  particularly,  thank  you,  godmother.  I 
have  plenty  to  eat  and  drink,  and  my  lessons  to 
do,  and  my  books  to  read — lots  of  books." 

i  '  And  you  want  nothing  ? ' ' 

"Nothing.  Yes — perhaps If  you  please, 

godmother,  could  you  bring  me  just  one  more 
thing!" 

[37] 


" What  sort  of  thing?'-3 

"A  little  boy  to  play  with." 

The  old  woman  looked  very  sad.  "Just  the 
thing,  alas !  which  I  cannot  give  you.  My  child, 
I  cannot  alter  your  lot  in  any  way,  but  I  can  help 
you  to  bear  it." 

1 '  Thank  you.  But  why  do  you  talk  of  bearing 
itf  I  have  nothing  to  bear." 

"My  poor  little  manl"  said  the  old  woman  in 
the  very  tenderest  tone  of  her  tender  voice. 
"Kissmel" 

"What  is  kissing  f'a  asked  the  wondering 
child. 

His  godmother  took  him  in  her  arms  and  em- 
braced him  many  times.  By  and  by  he  kissed 
her  back  again — at  first  awkwardly  and  shyly, 
then  with  all  the  strength  of  his  warm  little 
heart. 

"You  are  better  to  cuddle  than  even  my  white 
kitten,  I  think.  Promise  me  that  you  will  never 
go  away." 

"I  must;  but  I  will  leave  a  present  behind 
me, — something  as  good  as  myself  to  amuse  you, 
— something  that  will  take  you  wherever  you 
want  to  go,  and  show  you  all  that  you  wish  to 
see." 

"What  is  it?" 

[38] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"A  traveling-cloak. JJ 

The  Prince 's  countenance  f  elL  * '  I  don 't  want 
a  cloak,  for  I  never  go  out.  Sometimes  nurse 
hoists  me  on  to  the  roof,  and  carries  me  round 
by  the  parapet;  hut  that  is  all.  I  can't  walk, 
you  know,  as  she  does.'-2 

"The  more  reason  why  you  should  ride;  and 
besides,  this  traveling-cloak " 

"Hush!— she 's  coming." 

There  sounded  outside  the  room  door  a  heavy 
step  and  a  grumpy  voice,  and  a  rattle  of  plates 
and  dishes. 

"It's  my  nurse,  and  she  is  bringing  my  din- 
ner ;  but  I  don't  want  dinner  at  all — I  only  want 
you.  Will  her  coming  drive  you  away,  god- 
mother?" 

"Perhaps;  but  only  for  a  little  while.  Kever 
mind ;  all  the  bolts  and  bars  in  the  world  couldn't 
keep  me  out.  I'd  fly  in  at  the  window,  or  down 
through  the  chimney.  Only  wish  for  me,  and  I 
come." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Prince  Dolor,  but  almost 
in  a  whisper,  for  he  was  very  uneasy  at  what 
might  happen  next.  His  nurse  and  his  god- 
mother— what  would  they  say  to  one  another? 
how  would  they  look  at  one  another  ? — two  such 
different  faces:  one  harsh-lined,  sullen,  cross, 

[39] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

and  sad;  the  other  sweet  and  bright  and  calm 
as  a  summer  evening  before  the  dark  begins. 

When  the  door  was  flung  open,  Prince  Dolor 
shut  his  eyes,  trembling  all  over ;  opening  them 
again,  he  saw  he  need  fear  nothing — his  lovely 
old  godmother  had  melted  away  just  like  the 
rainbow  out  of  the  sky,  as  he  had  watched  it 
many  a  time.  Nobody  but  his  nurse  was  in  the 
room. 

"What  a  muddle  your  Eoyal  Highness  is  sit- 
ting in,"  said  she  sharply.  "Such  a  heap  of  un- 
tidy books ;  and  what's  this  rubbish ?"  knocking 
a  little  bundle  that  lay  beside  them. 

"Oh,  nothing,  nothing — give  it  me!"  cried 
the  Prince,  and,  darting  after  it,  he  hid  it  under 
his  pinafore,  and  then  pushed  it  quickly  into  his 
pocket.  Rubbish  as  it  was,  it  was  left  in  the 
place  where  she  sat,  and  might  be  something 
belonging  to  her — his  dear,  kind  godmother, 
whom  already  he  loved  with  all  his  lonely, 
tender,  passionate  heart. 

It  was,  though  he  did  not  know  this,  Ms  won- 
derful traveling-cloak. 


[401 


CHAPTER  IV 

AND  what  of  the  traveling-cloak? 
What  sort  of  cloak  was  it,  and  what 
good  did  it  do  the  Prince  ? 

Stay,  and  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it. 

Outside  it  was  the  commonest-looking  bundle 
imaginable — shabby  and  small ;  and  the  instant 
Prince  Dolor  touched  it,  it  grew  smaller  still, 
dwindling  down  till  he  could  put  it  in  his  trou- 
sers pocket,  like  a  handkerchief  rolled  up  into 
a  ball.  He  did  this  at  once,  for  fear  his  nurse 
should  see  it,  and  kept  it  there  all  day — all 
night,  too.  Till  after  his  next  morning's  lessons 
he  had  no  opportunity  of  examining  his  treas- 
ure. 

When  he  did,  it  seemed  no  treasure  at  all ;  but 
a  mere  piece  of  cloth — circular  in  form,  dark 
green  in  color — that  is,  if  it  had  any  color  at  all, 
being  so  worn  and  shabby,  though  not  dirty.  It 
had  a  split  cut  to  the  center,  forming  a  round 
hole  for  the  neck — and  that  was  all  its  shape ;  the 
shape,  in  fact,  of  those  cloaks  which  in  South 
America  are  called  ponchos — very  simple,  but 
most  graceful  and  convenient. 

[41] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Prince  Dolor  had  never  seen  anything  like  it. 
In  spite  of  his  disappointment,  he  examined  it 
curiously;  spread  it  out  on  the  floor,  then  ar- 
ranged it  on  his  shoulders.  It  felt  very  warm 
and  comfortable;  but  it  was  so  exceedingly 
shabby — the  only  shabby  thing  that  the  Prince 
had  ever  seen  in  his  life. 

"And  what  use  will  it  be  to  me?'3  said  he 
sadly.  "I  have  no  need  of  outdoor  clothes,  as  I 
never  go  out.  Why  was  this  given  me,  I  wonder  ? 
and  what  in  the  world  am  I  to  do  with  it  1  She 
must  be  a  rather  funny  person,  this  dear  god- 
mother of  mine." 

Nevertheless,  because  she  was  his  godmother, 
and  had  given  him  the  cloak,  he  folded  it  care- 
fully and  put  it  away,  poor  and  shabby  as  it  was, 
hiding  it  in  a  safe  corner  of  his  top  cupboard, 
which  his  nurse  never  meddled  with.  He  did 
not  want  her  to  find  it,  or  to  laugh  at  it  or  at  his 
godmother — as  he  felt  sure  she  would,  if  she 
knew  all. 

There  it  lay,  and  by  and  by  he  forgot  all  about 
it ;  nay,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that,  being  but  a  child, 
and  not  seeing  her  again,  he  almost  forgot  his 
sweet  old  godmother,  or  thought  of  her  only  as 
lie  did  of  the  angels  or  fairies  that  he  read  of  in 

[42] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

his  books,  and  of  her  visit  as  if  it  had  been  a 
mere  dream  of  the  night. 

There  were  times,  certainly,  when  he  recalled 
her :  of  early  mornings,  like  that  morning  when 
she  appeared  beside  him,  and  late  evenings, 
when  the  gray  twilight  reminded  him  of  the 
color  of  her  hair  and  her  pretty  soft  garments ; 
above  all,  when,  waking  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  with  the  stars  peering  in  at  his  window, 
or  the  moonlight  shining  across  his  little  bed, 
he  would  not  have  been  surprised  to  see  her 
standing  beside  it,  looking  at  him  with  those 
beautiful  tender  eyes,  which  seemed  to  have  a 
pleasantness  and  comfort  in  them  different 
from  anything  he  had  ever  known. 

But  she  never  came,  and  gradually  she  slipped 
out  of  his  memory — only  a  boy's  memory,  after 
all ;  until  something  happened  which  made  him 
remember  her,  and  want  her  as  he  had  never 
wanted  anything  before. 

Prince  Dolor  fell  ill.  He  caught— his  nurse 
could  not  tell  how — a  complaint  common  to  the 
people  of  Nomansland,  called  the  doldrums,  as 
unpleasant  as  measles  or  any  other  of  our  com- 
plaints; and  it  made  him  restless,  cross,  and 
disagreeable.  Even  when  a  little  better,  he  was 
too  weak  to  enjoy  anything,  but  lay  all  day  long 

[43] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

on  his  sofa,  fidgeting  his  nurse  extremely — 
while,  in  her  intense  terror  lest  he  might  die,  she 
fidgeted  him  still  more.  At  last,  seeing  he  really 
was  getting  well,  she  left  him  to  himself — which 
he  was  most  glad  of,  in  spite  of  his  dullness  and 
dreariness.  There  he  lay,  alone,  quite  alone. 

Now  and  then  an  irritable  fit  came  over  him, 
in  which  he  longed  to  get  up  and  do  something, 
or  to  go  somewhere — would  have  liked  to  imitate 
his  white  kitten — jump  down  from  the  tower 
and  run  away,  taking  the  chance  of  whatever 
might  happen. 

Only  one  thing,  alas!  was  likely  to  happen; 
for  the  kitten,  he  remembered,  had  four  active 
legs,  while  he 

i 'I  wonder  what  my  godmother  meant  when 
she  looked  at  my  legs  and  sighed  so  bitterly  I  I 
wonder  why  I  can't  walk  straight  and  steady 
like  my  nurse — only  I  wouldn't  like  to  have  her 
great,  noisy,  clumping  shoes.  Still  it  would  be 
very  nice  to  move  about  quickly — perhaps  to 
fly,  like  a  bird,  like  that  string  of  birds  I  saw 
the  other  day  skimming  across  the  sky,  one  after 
the  other.7' 

These  were  the  passage-birds — the  only  living 
creatures  that  ever  crossed  the  lonely  plain ;  and 
he  had  been  much  interested  in  them,  wonder- 

[44] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

ing  whence  they  came  and  whither  they  were 
going. 

"How  nice  it  must  be  to  be  a  bird !  If  legs  are 
no  good,  why  cannot  one  have  wings'?  People 
have  wings  when  they  die — perhaps;  I  wish  I 
were  dead,  that  I  do.  I  am  so  tired,  so  tired; 
and  nobody  cares  for  me.  Nobody  ever  did  care 
for  me,  except  perhaps  my  godmother.  God- 
mother, dear,  have  you  quite  forsaken  mef" 

He  stretched  himself  wearily,  gathered  him- 
self up,  and  dropped  his  head  upon  his  hands; 
as  he  did  so,  he  felt  somebody  kiss  him  at  the 
back  of  his  neck,  and,  turning,  found  that  he 
was  resting,  not  on  the  sofa  pillows,  but  on  a 
warm  shoulder — that  of  the  little  old  woman 
clothed  in  gray. 

How  glad  he  was  to  see  her !  How  he  looked 
into  her  kind  eyes  and  felt  her  hands,  to  see  if 
she  were  all  real  and  alive!  then  put  both  his 
arms  round  her  neck,  and  kissed  her  as  if  he 
would  never  have  done  kissing. 

"Stop,  stopP  cried  she,  pretending  to  be 
smothered.  "I  see  you  have  not  forgotten  my 
teachings.  Kissing  is  a  good  thing — in  modera- 
tion. Only  just  let  me  have  breath  to  speak  one 
word." 

"A  dozen !"  he  said. 

[45] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"Well,  then,  tell  me  all  that  has  happened  to 
you  since  I  saw  you — or,  rather,  since  you  saw 
me,  which  is  quite  a  different  thing. " 

"  Nothing  has  happened — nothing  ever  does 
happen  to  me,"  answered  the  Prince  dolefully. 

"And  are  you  very  dull,  my  boy?" 

"So  dull  that  I  was  just  thinking  whether  I 
could  not  jump  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  tower, 
like  my  white  kitten," 

"Don't  do  that,  not  being  a  white  kitten." 

"I  wish  I  were — I  wish  I  were  anything  but 
what  I  am.'' 

"And  you  can't  make  yourself  any  different, 
nor  can  I  do  it  either.  You  must  be  content  to 
stay  just  what  you  are." 

The  little  old  woman  said  this — very  firmly, 
but  gently,  too — with  her  arms  round  his  neck 
and  her  lips  on  his  forehead.  It  was  the  first 
time  the  boy  had  ever  heard  any  one  talk  like 
this,  and  he  looked  up  in  surprise — but  not  in 
pain,  for  her  sweet  manner  softened  the  hard- 
ness of  her  words. 

"Now,  my  Prince, — for  you  are  a  prince, 
and  must  behave  as  such, — let  us  see  what  we 
can  do ;  how  much  I  can  do  for  you,  or  show  you 
how  to  do  for  yourself.  Where  is  your 
traveling-cloak  1 ' ' 

[46] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Prince  Dolor  blushed  extremely.  "I — I  put 
it  away  in  the  cupboard;  I  suppose  it  is  there 
still." 

"  You  have  never  used  it ;  you  dislike  if?'-8 

He  hesitated,  not  wishing  to  be  impolite. 
"Don't  you  think  it's — just  a  little  old  and 
shabby  for  a  prince  ?!^ 

The  old  woman  laughed — long  and  loud, 
though  very  sweetly. 

"Prince,  indeed!  Why,  if  all  the  princes  in 
the  world  craved  for  it,  they  couldn't  get  it,  un- 
less I  gave  it  them.  Old  and  shabby!  It's  the 
most  valuable  thing  imaginable  I  Very  few  ever 
have  it ;  but  I  thought  I  would  give  it  to  you,  be- 
cause— because  you  are  different  from  other 
people." 

"Am  I?"  said  the  Prince,  and  looked  first 
with  curiosity,  then  with  a  sort  of  anxiety,  into 
his  godmother's  face,  which  was  sad  and  grave, 
with  slow  tears  beginning  to  steal  down. 

She  touched  his  poor  little  legs.  "These  are 
not  like  those  of  other  little  boys.'1 

"Indeed! — my  nurse  never  told  me  that." 

"Very  likely  not.  But  it  is  time  you  were 
told;  and  I  tell  you,  because  I  love  you.'1 

"Tell  me  what,  dear  godmother V-9 

"That  you  will  never  be  able  to  walk  or  run 

[471 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

or  jump  or  play — that  your  life  will  be  quite 
different  from  most  people's  lives;  but  it  may 
be  a  very  happy  life  for  all  that.  Do  not  be 
afraid." 

"I  am  not  afraid,"  said  the  boy;  but  he 
turned  very  pale,  and  his  lips  began  to  quiver, 
though  he  did  not  actually  cry — he  was  too  old 
for  that,  and,  perhaps,  too  proud. 

Though  not  wholly  comprehending,  he  began 
dimly  to  guess  what  his  godmother  meant.  He 
had  never  seen  any  real  live  boys,  but  he  had 
seen  pictures  of  them  running  and  jumping; 
which  he  had  admired  and  tried  hard  to  imitate, 
but  always  failed.  Now  he  began  to  understand 
why  he  failed,  and  that  he  always  should  fail — 
that,  in  fact,  he  was  not  like  other  little  boys; 
and  it  was  of  no  use  his  wishing  to  do  as  they 
did,  and  play  as  they  played,  even  if  he  had  had 
them  to  play  with.  His  was  a  separate  life,  in 
which  he  must  find  out  new  work  and  new  pleas- 
ures for  himself. 

The  sense  of  the  inevitable,  as  grown-up 
people  call  it — that  we  cannot  have  things  as  we 
want  them  to  be,  but  as  they  are,  and  that  we 
must  learn  to  bear  them  and  make  the  best  of 
them — this  lesson,  which  everybody  has  to  learn 
soon  or  late — came,  alas !  sadly  soon,  to  the  poor 

[481 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

boy.  He  fought  against  it  for  a  while,  and  then, 
quite  overcome,  turned  and  sobbed  bitterly  in 
his  godmother's  arms. 

She  comforted  him — I  do  not  know  how,  ex- 
cept that  love  always  comforts;  and  then  she 
whispered  to  him,  in  her  sweet,  strong,  cheerful 
voice :  i  l  Never  mind ! ' ' 

"No,  I  don't  think  I  do  mind — that  is,  I  won't 
mind,"  replied  he,  catching  the  courage  of  her 
tone  and  speaking  like  a  man,  though  he  was 
still  such  a  mere  boy. 

"That  is  right,  my  Prince ! — that  is  being  like 
a  prince.  Now  we  know  exactly  where  we  are ; 
let  us  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel  and '^ 

"We  are  in  Hopeless  Tower"  (this  was  its 
name,  if  it  had  a  name),  "and  there  is  no  wheel 
to  put  our  shoulders  to,"  said  the  child  sadly. 

"You  little  matter-of-fact  goose!  Well  for 
you  that  you  have  a  godmother  called " 

"Whatf"  he  eagerly  asked. 

* '  Stuff-and-nonsense. ' ' 

' '  Stuff-and-nonsense !    What  a  funny  name ! ' ? 

"Some  people  give  it  me,  but  they  are  not  my 
most  intimate  friends.  These  call  me — never 
mind  what,"  added  the  old  woman,  with  a  soft 
twinkle  in  her  eyes.  "So  as  you  know  me,  and 
know  me  well,  you  may  give  me  any  name  you 

[49] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

please;  it  doesn't  matter.  But  I  am  your  god- 
mother, child.  I  have  few  godchildren ;  those  I 
have  love  me  dearly,  and  find  me  the  greatest 
blessing  in  all  the  world." 

"I  can  well  believe  it,"  cried  the  little  lame 
Prince,  arid  forgot  his  troubles  in  looking  at 
her — as  her  figure  dilated,  her  eyes  grew  lus- 
trous as  stars,  her  very  raiment  brightened,  and 
the  whole  room  seemed  filled  with  her  beautiful 
and  beneficent  presence  like  light. 

He  could  have  looked  at  her  forever — half  in 
love,  half  in  awe.;  but  she  suddenly  dwindled 
down  into  the  little  old  woman  all  in  gray,  and, 
with  a  malicious  twinkle  in  her  eyes,  asked  for 
the  traveling-cloak. 

"  Bring  it  out  of  the  rubbish  cupboard,  and 
shake  the  dust  off  it,  quick!"  said  she  to  Prince 
Dolor,  who  hung  his  head,  rather  ashamed. 
"  Spread  it  out  on  the  floor,  and  wait  till  the 
split  closes  and  the  edges  turn  up  like  a  rim  all 
round.  Then  go  and  open  the  skylight, — mind, 
I  say  open  the  skylight, — set  yourself  down  in 
the  middle  of  it,  like  a  frog  on  a  water-lily  leaf ; 
say  *  Abracadabra,  dum  dum  durn,'  and — see 
what  will  happen ! ' ' 

The  Prince  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughing.  It 
all  seemed  so  exceedingly  silly;  he  wondered 

[50] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

that  a  wise  old  woman  like  Ms  godmother  should 
talk  such  nonsense. 

"  Stuf£-and-nonsense,  you  mean/3  said  she, 
answering,  to  his  great  alarm,  his  unspoken 
thoughts.  "Did  I  not  tell  you  some  people 
called  me  by  that  name?  Never  mind;  it 
doesn't  harm  me/12 

And  she  laughed — her  merry  laugh — as  child- 
like as  if  she  were  the  Prince's  age  instead  of 
her  own,  whatever  that  might  be.  She  cer- 
tainly was  a  most  extraordinary  old  woman. 

"Believe  me  or  not,  it  doesn't  matter,"  said 
she.  "Here  is  the  cloak:  when  you  want  to  go 
traveling  on  it,  say  *  Abracadabra,  dum,  dum, 
dum';  when  you  want  to  come  back  again,  say 
6 Abracadabra,  turn  turn  ti.'  That's  all;  good- 
by.'? 

A  puff  of  most  pleasant  air  passing  by  him, 
and  making  him  feel  for  the  moment  quite 
strong  and  well,  was  all  the  Prince  was  con- 
scious of.  His  most  extraordinary  godmother 
was  gone. 

"Really  now,  how  rosy  your  Royal  Highness"3 
cheeks  have  grown !  You  seem  to  have  got  well 
already,"  said  the  nurse,  entering  the  room. 

"I  think  I  have,"  replied  the  Prince  very 
gently — he  felt  gently  and  kindly  even  to  his 

[51] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

grim  nurse.  "And  now  let  me  have  my  dinner, 
and  go  you  to  your  sewing  as  usual." 

The  instant  she  was  gone,  however,  taking 
with  her  the  plates  and  dishes,  which  for  the  first 
time  since  his  illness  he  had  satisfactorily 
cleared,  Prince  Dolor  sprang  down  from  his 
sofa,  and  with  one  or  two  of  his  frog-like  jumps 
reached  the  cupboard  where  he  kept  his  toys, 
and  looked  everywhere  for  his  traveling-cloak. 

Alas !  it  was  not  there. 

While  he  was  ill  of  the  doldrums,  his  nurse, 
thinking  it  a  good  opportunity  for  putting 
things  to  rights,  had  made  a  grand  clearance  of 
all  his  "rubbish'' — as  she  considered  it:  his 
beloved  headless  horses,  broken  carts,  sheep 
without  feet,  and  birds  without  wings — all  the 
treasures  of  his  baby  days,  which  he  could  not 
bear  to  part  with.  Though  he  seldom  played 
with  them  now,  he  liked  just  to  feel  they  were 
there. 

They  were  all  gone  and  with  them  the 
traveling-cloak.  He  sat  down  on  the  floor,  look- 
ing at  the  empty  shelves,  so  beautifully  clean 
and  tidy,  then  burst  out  sobbing  as  if  his  heart 
would  break. 

But  quietly — always  quietly.  He  never  let 

[521 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

his  nurse  hear  him  cry.  She  only  laughed  at 
him,  as  he  felt  she  would  laugh  now. 

"And  it  is  all  my  own  fault!"  he  cried.  "I 
ought  to  have  itaken  better  care  of  my  god- 
mother's gift.  Oh,  godmother,  forgive  me!  I'll 
never  be  so  careless  again.  I  don't  know  what 
the  cloak  is  exactly,  but  I  am  sure  it  is  some- 
thing precious.  Help  me  to  find  it  again.  Oh, 
don't  let  it  be  stolen  from  me — don't,  please!" 

"Ha,  ha,  ha !"  laughed  a  silvery  voice.  "Why, 
that  traveling-cloak  is  the  one  thing  in  the  world 
which  nobody  can  steal.  It  is  of  no  use  to  any- 
body except  the  owner.  Open  your  eyes,  my 
Prince,  and  see  what  you  shall  see." 

His  dear  old  godmother,  he  thought,  and 
turned  eagerly  round.  But  no ;  he  only  beheld, 
lying  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  all  dust  and  cob- 
webs, his  precious  traveling-cloak. 

Prince  Dolor  darted  toward  it,  tumbling 
several  times  on  the  way,  as  he  often  did  tumble, 
poor  boy!  and  pick  himself  up  again,  never 
complaining.  Snatching  it  to  his  breast,  he 
hugged  and  kissed  it,  cobwebs  and  all,  as  if  it 
had  been  something  alive.  Then  he  began  un- 
rolling it,  wondering  each  minute  what  would 
happen.  What  did  happen  was  so  curious  that 
I  must  leave  it  for  another  chapter. 

(920)  [53] 


CHAPTEE  Y 

IF  any  reader,  big  or  little,  should  wonder 
whether  there  is  a  meaning  in  this  story 
deeper  than  that  of  an  ordinary  fairy  tale, 
I  will  own  that  there  is.    But  I  have  hid- 
den it  so  carefully  that  the  smaller  people,  and 
many  larger  folk,  will  never  find  it  out,  and 
meantime  the  book  may  be  read  straight  on,  like 
" Cinderella, "  or  " Blue-Beard,"  or  "Hop-o>- 
my-Thumb,"  for  what  interest  it  has,  or  what 
amusement  it  may  bring. 

Having  said  this,  I  return  to  Prince  Dolor, 
that  little  lame  boy  whom  many  may  think  so 
exceedingly  to  be  pitied.  But  if  you  had  seen 
him  as  he  sat  patiently  untying  his  wonderful 
cloak,  which  was  done  up  in  a  very  tight  and 
perplexing  parcel,  using  skillfully  his  deft  little 
hands,  and  knitting  his  brows  with  firm  deter- 
mination, while  his  eyes  glistened  with  pleasure 
and  energy  and  eager  anticipation — if  you  had 
beheld  him  thus,  you  might  have  changed  your 
opinion. 
When  we  see  people  suffering  or  unfortunate, 

[54] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

we  feel  very  sorry  for  them;  but  when  we  see 
them  bravely  bearing  their  sufferings  and  mak- 
ing the  best  of  their  misfortunes,  it  is  quite  a 
different  feeling.  We  respect,  we  admire  them. 
One  can  respect  and  admire  even  a  little  child. 

When  Prince  Dolor  had  patiently  untied  all 
the  knots,  a  remarkable  thing  happened.  The 
cloak  began  to  undo  itself.  Slowly  unfolding, 
it  laid  itself  down  on  the  carpet,  as  flat  as  if  it 
had  been  ironed;  the  split  joined  with  a  little 
sharp  crick-crack,  and  the  rim  turned  up  all 
round  till  it  was  breast-high ;  for  meantime  the 
cloak  had  grown  and  grown,  and  become  quite 
large  enough  for  one  person  to  sit  in  it  as  com- 
fortable as  if  in  a  boat. 

The  Prince  watched  it  rather  anxiously;  it 
was  such  an  extraordinary,  not  to  say  a  fright- 
ening, thing.  However,  he  was  no  coward,  but 
a  thorough  boy,  who,  if  he  Jiad  been  like  other 
boys,  would  doubtless  have  grown  up  daring  and 
adventurous — a  soldier,  a  sailor,  or  the  like.  As 
it  was,  he  could  only  show  his  courage  morally, 
not  physically,  by  being  afraid  of  nothing,  and 
by  doing  boldly  all  that  it  was  in  his  narrow 
powers  to  do.  And  I  am  not  sure  but  that  in 
this  way  he  showed  more  real  valor  than  if  he 
had  had  six  pairs  of  proper  legs. 

[55] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

He  said  to  Mmself :  "What  a  goose  I  am!  As 
if  my  dear  godmother  would  ever  have  given  me 
anything  to  hurt  me.  Here  goes!" 

So,  with  one  of  his  active  leaps,  he  sprang 
right  into  the  middle  of  the  cloak,  where  he 
squatted  down,  wrapping  his  arms  tight  round 
his  knees,  for  they  shook  a  little  and  his  heart 
beat  fast.  But  there  he  sat,  steady  and  silent, 
waiting  for  what  might  happen  next. 

Nothing  did  happen,  and  he  began  to  think 
nothing  would,  and  to  feel  rather  disappointed, 
when  he  recollected  the  words  he  had  been  told 
to  repeat — "Abracadabra,  dum  dum  dum!" 

He  repeated  them,  laughing  all  the  while,  they 
seemed  such  nonsense.  And  then — and 
then 

Now  I  don't  expect  anybody  to  believe  what 
I  am  going  to  relate,  though  a  good  many  wise 
people  have  believed  a  good  many  sillier  things. 
And  as  seeing 's  believing,  and  I  never  saw  it,  I 
cannot  be  expected  implicitly  to  believe  it  my- 
self, except  in  a  sort  of  a  way ;  and  yet  there  is 
truth  in  it — for  some  people. 

The  cloak  rose,  slowly  and  steadily,  at  first 
only  a  few  inches,  then  gradually  higher  and 
higher,  till  it  nearly  touched  the  skylight. 
Prince  Dolor's  head  actually  bumped  against 

[56] 


ropt> 


The  cloak  rose  slowly  and  steadily. 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  glass,  or  would  have  done  so  had  he  not 
crouched  down,  crying  "Oh,  please  don't  hurt 
me ! ' '  in  a  most  melancholy  voice. 

Then  he  suddenly  remembered  his  god- 
mother's express  command — "Open  the  sky- 
light!" 

Regaining  his  courage  at  once,  without  a  mo- 
ment's delay  he  lifted  up  his  head  and  began 
searching  for  the  bolt — the  cloak  meanwhile  re- 
maining perfectly  still,  balanced  in  the  air. 
But  the  minute  the  window  was  opened,  out  it 
sailed — right  out  into  the  clear,  fresh  air,  with 
nothing  between  it  and  the  cloudless  blue. 

Prince  Dolor  had  never  felt  any  such  de- 
licious sensation  before.  I  can  understand  it. 
Cannot  you  ?  Did  you  never  think,  in  watching 
the  rooks  going  home  singly  or  in  pairs,  soaring 
their  way  across  the  calm  evening  sky  till  they 
vanish  like  black  dots  in  the  misty  gray,  how 
pleasant  it  must  feel  to  be  up  there,  quite  out  of 
the  noise  and  din  of  the  world,  able  to  hear  and 
see  everything  down  below,  yet  troubled  by 
nothing  and  teased  by  no  one — all  alone,  but 
perfectly  content  ? 

Something  like  this  was  the  happiness  of  the 
little  lame  Prince  when  he  got  out  of  Hopeless 
Tower,  and  found  himself  for  the  first  time  in 

[57] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  pure  open  air,  with  the  sky  above  him  and 
the  earth  below. 

True,  there  was  nothing  but  earth  and  sky ;  no 
houses,  no  trees,  no  rivers,  mountains,  seas — 
not  a  beast  on  the  ground,  or  a  bird  in  the  air. 
But  to  him  even  the  level  plain  looked  beautiful ; 
and  then  there  was  the  glorious  arch  of  the  sky, 
with  a  little  young  moon  sitting  in  the  west  like 
a  baby  queen.  And  the  evening  breeze  was  so 
sweet  and  fresh — it  kissed  him  like  his  god- 
mother's kisses ;  and  by  and  by  a  few  stars  came 
out — first  two  or  three,  and  then  quantities — 
quantities !  so  that  when  he  began  to  count  them 
he  was  utterly  bewildered. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  cool  breeze  had  be- 
come cold ;  the  mist  gathered ;  and  as  he  had,  as 
he  said,  no  outdoor  clothes,  poor  Prince  Dolor 
was  not  very  comfortable.  The  dews  fell  damp 
on  his  curls — he  began  to  shiver. 

''Perhaps  I  had  better  go  horne,'^  thought  he. 

But  how?  Por  in  his  excitement  the  other 
words  which  his  godmother  had  told  him  to  use 
had  slipped  his  memory.  They  were  only  a  little 
different  from  the  first,  but  in  that  slight  dif- 
ference all  the  importance  lay.  As  he  repeated 
his  "Abracadabra,"  trying  ever  so  many  other 
syllables  after  it,  the  cloak  only  went  faster 

[58] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

and  faster,  skimming  on  through  the  dusky, 
empty  air. 

The  poor  little  Prince  began  to  feel  fright- 
ened. What  if  his  wonderful  traveling-cloak 
should  keep  on  thus  traveling,  perhaps  to  the 
world's  end,  carrying  with  it  a  poor,  tired, 
hungry  boy,  who,  after  all,  was  beginning  to 
think  there  was  something  very  pleasant  in 
supper  and  bed ! 

"Dear  godmother,"  he  cried  pitifully,  "do 
help  me!  Tell  me  just  this  once  and  I'll  never 
forget  again. >? 

Instantly  the  words  came  rushing  into  his 
head — "Abracadabra,  turn  turn  ti!"  Was  that 
it  ?  Ah !  yes — for  the  cloak  began  to  turn  slowly. 
He  repeated  the  charm  again,  more  distinctly 
and  firmly,  when  it  gave  a  gentle  dip,  like  a  nod 
of  satisfaction,  and  immediately  started  back, 
as  fast  as  ever,  in  the  direction  of  the  tower. 

He  reached  the  skylight,  which  he  found  ex- 
actly as  he  had  left  it,  and  slipped  in,  cloak  and 
all,  as  easily  as  he  had  got  out.  He  had  scarcely 
reached  the  floor,  and  was  still  sitting  in  the 
middle  of  his  traveling-cloak, — like  a  frog  on  a 
water-lily  leaf,  as  his  godmother  had  expressed 
it, — when  he  heard  his  nurse's  voice  outside. 

"Bless  us!  what  has  become  of  your  Royal 

[59] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Highness  all  this  time  ?  To  sit  stupidly  here  at 
the  window  till  it  is  quite  dark,  and  leave  the 
skylight  open,  too.  Prince!  what  can  you  be 
thinking  of?  You  are  the  silliest  boy  I  ever 
knew." 

"Am  I?"  said  he  absently,  and  never  heeding 
her  crossness ;  for  his  only  anxiety  was  lest  she 
might  find  out  anything. 

She  would  have  been  a  very  clever  person  to 
have  done  so.  The  instant  Prince  Dolor  got  off 
it,  the  cloak  folded  itself  up  into  the  tiniest  pos- 
sible parcel,  tied  all  its  own  knots,  and  rolled 
itself  of  its  own  accord  into  the  farthest  and 
darkest  corner  of  the  room.  If  the  nurse  had 
seen  it,  which  she  didn't,  she  would  have  taken 
it  for  a  mere  bundle  of  rubbish  not  worth  notic- 
ing. 

Shutting  the  skylight  with  an  angry  bang,  she 
brought  in  the  supper  and  lit  the  candles  with 
her  usual  unhappy  expression  of  countenance. 
But  Prince  Dolor  hardly  saw  it;  he  only  saw, 
hid  in  the  corner  where  nobody  else  would  see  it, 
his  wonderful  traveling-cloak.  And  though  his 
supper  was  not  particularly  nice,  he  ate  it 
heartily,  scarcely  hearing  a  word  of  his  nurse's 
grumbling,  which  to-night  seemed  to  have  taken 
the  place  of  her  sullen  silence. 

[601 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"Poor  woman !"  he  thought,  when  he  paused 
a  minute  to  listen  and  look  at  her  with  those 
quiet,  happy  eyes,  so  like  his  mother's.  "Poor 
woman!  she  hasn't  got  a  traveling-cloak!'" 

And  when  he  was  left  alone  at  last,  and  crept 
into  his  little  bed,  where  he  lay  awake  a  good 
while,  watching  what  he  called  his  "sky- 
garden,  "  all  planted  with  stars,  like  flowers,  his 
chief  thought  was — "I  must  be  up  very  early 
to-morrow  morning,  and  get  my  lessons  done, 
and  then  I'll  go  traveling  all  over  the  world  on 
my  beautiful  cloak." 

So  next  day  he  opened  his  eyes  with  the  sun, 
and  went  with  a  good  heart  to  his  lessons.  They 
had  hitherto  been  the  chief  amusement  of  his 
dull  life ;  now,  I  am  afraid,  he  found  them  also 
a  little  dull.  But  he  tried  to  be  good, — I  don't 
say  Prince  Dolor  always  was  good,  but  he  gen- 
erally tried  to  be, — and  when  his  mind  went 
wandering  after  the  dark,  dusty  corner  where 
lay  his  precious  treasure,  he  resolutely  called  it 
back  again. 

"For,"  he  said,  "how  ashamed  my  god- 
mother would  be  of  me  if  I  grew  up  a  stupid 
boy!" 

But  the  instant  lessons  were  done,  and  he  was 
alone  in  the  empty  room,  he  crept  across  the 

[61] 


floor,  undid  the  shabby  little  bundle,  his  fingers 
trembling  with  eagerness,  climbed  on  the  chair, 
and  thence  to  the  table,  so  as  to  unbar  the  sky- 
light,— he  forgot  nothing  now, — said  his  magic 
charm,  and  was  away  out  of  the  window,  as  chil- 
dren say,  "in  a  few  minutes  less  than  no  time.'-3 

Nobody  missed  him.  He  was  accustomed  to 
sit  so  quietly  always  that  his  nurse,  though  only 
in  the  next  room,  perceived  no  difference.  And 
besides,  she  might  have  gone  in  and  out  a  dozen 
times,  and  it  would  have  been  just  the  same; 
she  never  could  have  found  out  his  absence. 

For  what  do  you  think  the  clever  godmother 
did  ?  She  took  a  quantity  of  moonshine,  or  some 
equally  convenient  material,  and  made  an  im- 
age, which  she  set  on  the  window-sill  reading,  or 
by  the  table  drawing,  where  it  looked  so  like 
Prince  Dolor  that  any  common  observer  would 
never  have  guessed  the  deception ;  and  even  the 
boy  would  have  been  puzzled  to  know  which  was 
the  image  and  which  was  himself. 

And  all  this  while  the  happy  little  fellow  was 
away,  floating  in  the  air  on  his  magic  cloak,  and 
seeing  all  sorts  of  wonderful  things — or  they 
seemed  wonderful  to  him,  who  had  hitherto  seen 
nothing  at  all. 

First,  there  were  the  flowers  that  grew  on  the 

[62] 


plain,  which,  whenever  the  cloak  came  near 
enough,  he  strained  his  eyes  to  look  at;  they 
were  very  tiny,  but  very  beautiful — white  saxi- 
frage, and  yellow  lotus,  and  ground-thistles, 
purple  and  bright,  with  many  others  the  names 
of  which  I  do  not  know.  No  more  did  Prince 
Dolor,  though  he  tried  to  find  them  out  by  re- 
calling any  pictures  he  had  seen  of  them.  But 
he  was  too  far  off ;  and  though  it  was  pleasant 
enough  to  admire  them  as  brilliant  patches  of 
color,  still  he  would  have  liked  to  examine  them 
all.  He  was,  as  a  little  girl  I  know  once  said  of 
a  playfellow,  "a  very  examining  boy." 

"I  wonder,'-  he  thought,  "whether  I  could  see 
better  through  a  pair  of  glasses  like  those  my 
nurse  reads  with,  and  takes  such  care  of.  How 
I  would  take  care  of  them,  too,  if  I  only  had 
a  pair!" 

Immediately  he  felt  something  queer  and 
hard  fixing  itself  to  the  bridge  of  his  nose.  It 
was  a  pair  of  the  prettiest  gold  spectacles  ever 
seen;  and  looking  downward,  he  found  that, 
though  ever  so  high  above  the  ground,  he  could 
see  every  minute  blade  of  grass,  every  tiny  bud 
and  flower — nay,  even  the  insects  that  walked 
over  them. 

1  i Thank  you,  thank  you!"  he  cried,  in  a  gush 

[63] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

of  gratitude — to  anybody  or  everybody,  but 
especially  to  his  dear  godmother,  who  he  felt 
sure  had  given  him  this  new  present.  He 
amused  himself  with  it  for  ever  so  long,  with 
his  chin  pressed  on  the  rim  of  the  cloak,  gazing 
down  upon  the  grass,  every  square  foot  of  which 
was  a  mine  of  wonders. 

Then,  just  to  rest  his  eyes,  he  turned  them  up 
to  the  sky — the  blue,  bright,  empty  sky,  which 
he  had  looked  at  so  often  and  seen  nothing. 

Now  surely  there  was  something.  A  long, 
black,  wavy  line,  moving  on  in  the  distance,  not 
by  chance,  as  the  clouds  move  apparently,  but 
deliberately,  as  if  it  were  alive.  He  might  have 
seen  it  before — he  almost  thought  he  had;  but 
then  he  could  not  tell  what  it  was.  Looking  at 
it  through  his  spectacles,  he  discovered  that 
it  really  was  alive ;  being  a  long  string  of  birds, 
flying  one  after  the  other,  their  wings  moving 
steadily  and  their  heads  pointed  in  one  direc- 
tion, as  steadily  as  if  each  were  a  little  ship, 
guided  invisibly  by  an  unerring  helm. 

"They  must  be  the  passage-birds  flying  sea- 
ward!" cried  the  boy,  who  had  read  a  little 
about  them,  and  had  a  great  talent  for  putting 
two  and  two  together  and  finding  out  all  he 
could.  "Oh,  how  I  should  like  to  see  them  quite 

[64] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

close,  and  to  know  where  they  come  from  and 
whither  they  are  going!  How  I  wish  I  knew 
everything  in  all  the  world ! ' ' 

A  silly  speech  for  even  an  "examining"  little 
boy  to  make;  because,  as  we  grow  older,  the 
more  we  know  the  more  we  find  out  there  is  to 
know.  And  Prince  Dolor  blushed  when  he  had 
said  it,  and  hoped  nobody  had  heard  him. 

Apparently  somebody  had,  however;  for  the 
cloak  gave  a  sudden  bound  forward,  and  pres- 
ently he  found  himself  high  in  the  air,  in  the 
very  middle  of  that  band  of  aerial  travelers,  who 
had  no  magic  cloak  to  travel  on — nothing  except 
their  wings.  Yet  there  they  were,  making  their 
fearless  way  through  the  sky. 

Prince  Dolor  looked  at  them  as  one  after  the 
other  they  glided  past  him;  and  they  looked  at 
him — those  pretty  swallows,  with  their  changing 
necks  and  bright  eyes — as  if  wondering  to  meet 
in  mid-air  such  an  extraordinary  sort  of  bird. 

"Oh,  I  wish  I  were  going  with  you,  you  lovely 
creatures!  I'm  getting  so  tired  of  this  dull 
plain,  and  the  dreary  and  lonely  tower.  I  do 
so  wrant  to  see  the  world!  Pretty  swallows, 
dear  swallows!  tell  me  what  it  looks  like — the 
beautiful,  wonderful  world!'-2 

But  the  swallows  flew  past  him — steadily, 

[65] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

slowly  pursuing  their  course  as  if  inside  each 
little  head  had  been  a  mariner's  compass,  to 
guide  them  safe  over  land  and  sea,  direct  to  the 
place  where  they  wished  to  go. 

The  boy  looked  after  them  with  envy.  For  a 
long  time  he  followed  with  his  eyes  the  faint, 
wavy  black  line  as  it  floated  away,  sometimes 
changing  its  curves  a  little,  but  never  deviating 
from  its  settled  course,  till  it  vanished  entirely 
out  of  sight. 

Then  he  settled  himself  down  in  the  center  of 
the  cloak,  feeling  quite  sad  and  lonely. 

"I  think  I'll  go  home,"  said  he,  and  repeated 
his  " Abracadabra,  turn  turn  ti!"  with  a  rather 
heavy  heart.  The  more  he  had,  the  more  he 
wanted ;  and  it  is  not  always  one  can  have  every- 
thing one  wants — at  least,  at  the  exact  minute 
one  craves  for  it;  not  even  though  one  is  a 
prince,  and  has  a  powerful  and  beneficent  god- 
mother. 

He  did  not  like  to  vex  her  by  calling  for  hei 
and  telling  her  how  unhappy  he  was,  in  spite  of 
all  her  goodness ;  so  he  just  kept  his  trouble  to 
himself,  went  back  to  his  lonely  tower,  ancl 
spent  three  days  in  silent  melancholy,  without 
even  attempting  another  journey  on  his 
traveling-cloak. 

[66] 


1 


CHAPTER  VI 

fourth  day  it  happened  that  the 
deaf-mute  paid  his  accustomed  visit, 
after  which  Prince  Dolor's  spirits 
rose.  They  always  did  when  he  got 
the  new  books  which,  just  to  relieve  his  con- 
science, the  King  of  Nomansland  regularly  sent 
to  his  nephew ;  with  many  new  toys  also,  though 
the  latter  were  disregarded  now. 

"Toys,  indeed!  when  I'm  a  big  boy,"  said 
the  Prince,  with  disdain,  and  would  scarcely 
condescend  to  mount  a  rocking-horse  which  had 
come,  somehow  or  other,— I  can't  be  expected 
to  explain  things  very  exactly, — packed  on  the 
back  of  the  other,  the  great  black  horse,  which 
stood  and  fed  contentedly  at  the  bottom  of  the 
tower. 

Prince  Dolor  leaned  over  and  looked  at  it,  and 
thought  how  grand  it  must  be  to  get  upon  its 
back — this  grand  live  steed — and  ride  away, 
like  the  pictures  of  knights. 

"Suppose  I  was  a  knight,"  he  said  to  himself; 
"then  I  should  be  obliged  to  ride  out  and  see  the 
world." 

[67] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

But  he  kept  all  these  thoughts  to  himself,  and 
just  sat  still,  devouring  his  new  books  till  he 
Lad  come  to  the  end  of  them  all.  It  was  a  repast 
not  unlike  the  Barmecide's  feast  which  you 
read  of  in  the  " Arabian  Nights,"  which  con- 
sisted of  very  elegant  but  empty  dishes,  or  that 
supper  of  Sancho  Panza  in  "Don  Quixote," 
where,  the  minute  the  smoking  dishes  came  on 
the  table,  the  physician  waved  his  hand  and  they 
were  all  taken  away. 

Thus  almost  all  the  ordinary  delights  of  boy- 
Jif e  had  been  taken  away  from,  or  rather  never 
given  to  this  poor  little  prince. 

"I  wonder,"  he  would  sometimes  think— " I 
wonder  what  it  feels  like  to  be  on  the  back  of  a 
horse,  galloping  away,  or  holding  the  reins  in  a 
carriage,  and  tearing  across  the  country,  or 
jumping  a  ditch,  or  running  a  race,  such  as  I 
read  of  or  see  in  pictures.  What  a  lot  of  things 
there  are  that  I  should  like  to  do!  But  first  I 
should  like  to  go  and  see  the  world.  I'll  try." 

Apparently  it  was  his  godmother's  plan 
always  to  let  him  try,  and  try  hard,  before  he 
gained  anything.  This  day  the  knots  that  tied 
up  his  traveling-cloak  were  more  than  usually 
troublesome,  and  he  was  a  full  half -hour  before 

[681 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

he  got  out  into  the  open  air,  and  found  himself 
floating  merrily  over  the  top  of  the  tower. 

Hitherto,  in  all  his  journeys,  he  had  never 
let  himself  go  out  of  sight  of  home,  for  the 
dreary  building,  after  all,  was  home — he  remem- 
bered no  other ;  but  now  he  felt  sick  of  the  very 
look  of  his  tower,  with  its  round  smooth  walls 
and  level  battlements. 

"Off  we  go!'*  cried  he,  when  the  cloak  stirred 
itself  with  a  slight,  slow  motion,  as  if  waiting  his 
orders.  "Anywhere — anywhere,  so  that  I  am 
away  from  here,  and  out  into  the  world." 

As  he  spoke,  the  cloak,  as  if  seized  suddenly 
with  a  new  idea,  bounded  forward  and  went 
skimming  through  the  air,  faster  than  the  very 
fastest  railway  train. 

"Gee-up!  gee-up !"  cried  Prince  Dolor  in 
great  excitement.  "This  is  as  good  as  riding  a 


race." 


And  he  patted  the  cloak  as  if  it  had  been  a 
horse — that  is,  in  the  way  he  supposed  horses 
ought  to  be  patted — and  tossed  his  head  back 
to  meet  the  fresh  breeze,  and  pulled  his  coat 
collar  up  and  his  hat  down  as  he  felt  the  wind 
grow  keener  and  colder — colder  than  anything  he 
had  ever  known. 

"What  does  it  matter,  though?"  said  he. 

[69] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"I'm  a  boy,  and  boys  ought  not  to  mind  any- 
thing.^ 

Still,  for  all  his  good-will,  by  and  by,  he  began 
to  shiver  exceedingly;  also,  he  had  come  away 
without  his  dinner,  and  he  grew  frightfully 
hungry.  And  to  add  to  everything,  the  sun- 
shiny day  changed  into  rain,  and  being  high 
up,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  clouds,  he  got  soaked 
through  and  through  in  a  very  few  minutes. 

"Shall  I  turn  back  I "  meditated  he.  "Sup- 
pose I  say  '  Abracadabra  "?' 

Here  he  stopped,  for  already  the  cloak  gave 
an  obedient  lurch,  as  if  it  were  expecting  to  be 
sent  home  immediately. 

"No — I  can't — I  can't  go  back!  I  must  go 
forward  and  see  the  world.  But  oh!  if  I  had 
but  the  shabbiest  old  rug  to  shelter  me  from  the 
rain,  or  the  driest  morsel  of  bread  and  cheese, 
just  to  keep  me  from  starving!  Still,  I  don't 
much  mind;  I'm  a  prince,  and  ought  to  be  able 
to  stand  anything.  Hold  on,  cloak,  we'll  make 
the  best  of  it." 

It  was  a  most  curious  circumstance,  but  no 
sooner  had  he  said  this  than  he  felt  stealing  over 
his  knees  something  warm  and  soft;  in  fact,  a 
most  beautiful  bearskin,  which  folded  itself 
round  him  quite  naturally,  and  cuddled  him  up 

[70] 


as  closely  as  if  lie  had  been  the  cub  of  the  kind 
old  mother-bear  that  once  owned  it.  Then  feel- 
ing in  his  pocket,  which  suddenly  stuck  out  in 
a  marvelous  way,  he  found,  not  exactly  bread 
and  cheese,  nor  even  sandwiches,  but  a  packet 
of  the  most  delicious  food  he  had  ever  tasted. 
It  was  not  meat,  nor  pudding,  but  a  combina- 
tion of  both,  and  it  served  him  excellently  for 
both.  He  ate  his  dinner  with  the  greatest 
gusto  imaginable,  till  he  grew  so  thirsty  he  did 
not  know  what  to  do. 

"Couldn't  I  have  just  one  drop  of  water,  if 
it  didn't  trouble  you  too  much,  kindest  of  god- 
mothers'?" 

For  he  really  thought  this  want  was  beyond 
her  power  to  supply.  All  the  water  which  sup- 
plied Hopeless  Tower  was  pumped  up  with  diffi- 
culty from  a  deep  artesian  well — there  were 
such  things  known  in  Nomansland — which  had 
been  made  at  the  foot  of  it.  But  around,  for 
miles  upon  miles,  the  desolate  plain  was  per- 
fectly dry.  And  above  it,  high  in  the  air,  how 
could  he  expect  to  find  a  well,  or  to  get  even 
a  drop  of  water "? 

He  forgot  one  thing — the  rain.  While  he 
spoke,  it  came  on  in  another  wild  burst,  as  if 
the  clouds  had  poured  themselves  out  in  a 

[71] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

passion  of  crying,  wetting  Mm  certainly,  but 
leaving  behind,  in  a  large  glass  vessel  which  he 
had  never  noticed  before,  enough  water  to 
quench  the  thirst  of  two  or  three  boys  at  least. 
And  it  was  so  fresh,  so  pure — as  water  from  the 
clouds  always  is  when  it  does  not  catch  the  soot 
from  city  chimneys  and  other  defilements — that 
lie  drank  it,  every  drop,  with  the  greatest  de- 
light and  content. 

Also,  as  soon  as  it  was  empty  the  rain  filled  it 
again,  so  that  he  was  able  to  wash  his  face  and 
hands  and  refresh  himself  exceedingly.  Then 
the  sun  came  out  and  dried  him  in  no  time. 
After  that  he  curled  himself  up  under  the  bear- 
skin rug,  and  though  he  determined  to  be  the 
most  wide-awake  boy  imaginable,  being  so  ex- 
ceedingly snug  and  warm  and  comfortable, 
Prince  Dolor  condescended  to  shut  his  eyes  just 
for  one  minute.  The  next  minute  he  was  sound 
asleep. 

"When  he  awoke,  he  found  himself  floating 
over  a  country  quite  unlike  anything  he  had 
ever  seen  before. 

Yet  it  was  nothing  but  what  most  of  you  chil- 
dren see  every  day  and  never  notice  it — a  pretty 
country  landscape,  like  England,  Scotland, 
France,  or  any  other  land  you  choose  to  name. 

[72] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

It  had  no  particular  features — nothing  in  it 
grand  or  lovely — was  simply  pretty,  nothing 
more ;  yet  to  Prince  Dolor,  who  had  never  gone 
beyond  his  lonely  tower  and  level  plain,  it  ap- 
peared the  most  charming  sight  imaginable. 

First,  there  was  a  river.  It  came  tumbling 
down  the  hillside,  frothing  and  foaming,  play- 
ing at  hide-and-seek  among  the  rocks,  then 
bursting  out  in  noisy  fun  like  a  child,  to  bury 
itself  in  deep,  still  pools.  Afterward  it  went 
steadily  on  for  a  while,  like  a  good  grown-up 
person,  till  it  came  to  another  big  rock,  where  it 
misbehaved  itself  extremely.  It  turned  into  a 
cataract,  and  went  tumbling  over  and  over, 
after  a  fashion  that  made  the  prince — who  had 
never  seen  water  before,  except  in  Ms  bath  or 
his  drinking-cup — clap  his  hands  with  delight. 

"It  is  so  active,  so  alive!  I  like  things  active 
and  alive!"  cried  he,  and  watched  it  shimmer- 
ing  and  dancing,  whirling  and  leaping,  till,  after 
a  few  windings  and  vagaries,  it  settled  into  a 
respectable  stream.  After  that  it  went  along, 
deep  and  quiet,  but  flowing  steadily  on,  till  it 
reached  a  large  lake,  into  which  it  slipped  and 
so  ended  its  course. 

All  this  the  boy  saw,  either  with  his  own 
naked  eye  or  through  his  gold  spectacles.  He 

[73] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

saw  also  as  in  a  picture,  beautiful  but  silent, 
many  other  things  which  struck  him  with 
wonder,  especially  a  grove  of  trees. 

Only  think,  to  have  lived  to  his  age  (which 
he  himself  did  not  know,  as  he  did  not  know  his 
own  birthday)  and  never  to  have  seen  trees! 
As  he  floated  over  these  oaks,  they  seemed  to 
him — trunk,  branches,  and  leaves — the  most 
curious  sight  imaginable. 

"If  I  could  only  get  nearer,  so  as  to  touch 
them,"  said  he,  and  immediately  the  obedient 
cloak  ducked  down;  Prince  Dolor  made  a 
snatch  at  the  topmost  twig  of  the  tallest  tree, 
and  caught  a  bunch  of  leaves  in  his  hand. 

Just  a  bunch  of  green  leaves — such  as  we  see 
in  myriads ;  watching  them  bud,  grow,  fall,  and 
then  kicking  them  along  on  the  ground  as  if 
they  were  worth  nothing.  Yet  how  wonderful 
they  are — every  one  of  them  a  little  different. 
I  don't  suppose  you  could  ever  find  two  leaves 
exactly  alike  in  form,  color,  and  size — no  more 
than  you  could  find  two  faces  alike,  or  two  char- 
acters exactly  the  same.  The  plan  of  this  world 
is  infinite  similarity  and  yet  infinite  variety. 

Prince  Dolor  examined  his  leaves  with  the 
greatest  curiosity — and  also  a  little  caterpillar 
that  he  found  walking  over  one  of  them.  He 

[74] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

coaxed  it  to  take  an  additional  walk  over  his 
finger,  which  it  did  with  the  greatest  dignity 
and  decorum,  as  if  it,  Mr.  Caterpillar,  were  the 
most  important  individual  in  existence.  It 
amused  him  for  a  long  time ;  and  when  a  sudden 
gust  of  wind  blew  it  overboard,  leaves  and  all, 
he  felt  quite  disconsolate. 

"  Still  there  must  be  many  live  creatures  in 
the  world  besides  caterpillars.  I  should  like  to 
see  a  few  of  them." 

The  cloak  gave  a  little  dip  down,  as  if  to  say 
"All  right,  my  Prince,"  and  bore  him  across  the 
oak  forest  to  a  long  fertile  valley — called  in 
Scotland  a  strath  and  in  England  a  weald,  but 
what  they  call  it  in  the  tongue  of  Nomansland 
I  do  not  know.  It  was  made  up  of  cornfields, 
pasturefields,  lanes,  hedges,  brooks,  and  ponds. 
Also,  in  it  were  what  the  prince  desired  to  see 
— a  quantity  of  living  creatures,  wild  and  tame. 
Cows  and  horses,  lambs  and  sheep,  fed  in  the 
meadows;  pigs  and  fowls  walked  about  the 
farm-yards;  and  in  lonelier  places  hares 
scudded,  rabbits  burrowed,  and  pheasants  and 
partridges,  with  many  other  smaller  birds,  in- 
habited the  fields  and  woods. 

Through  his  wonderful  spectacles  the  Prince 
could  see  everything;  but,  as  I  said,  it  was  a 

[751 


THE  LITTLE  LAME   PRINCE 

silent  picture ;  lie  was  too  high  up  to  catch  any- 
thing except  a  faint  murmur,  which  only 
aroused  his  anxiety  to  hear  more. 

"I  have  as  good  as  [two  pairs  of  eyes,"  he 
thought.  "I  wonder  if-  my  godmother  would 
give  me  a  second  pair  of  ears." 

Scarcely  had  he  spoken  than  he  found  lying 
on  his  lap  the  most  curious  little  parcel,  all  done 
up  in  silvery  paper.  And  it  contained — what 
do  you  think?  Actually  a  pair  of  silver  ears, 
which,  when  he  tried  them  on,  fitted  so  exactly 
over  his  own  that  he  hardly  felt  them,  except 
for  the  difference  they  made  in  his  hearing. 

There  is  something  which  we  listen  to  daily 
and  never  notice.  I  mean  the  sounds  of  the 
visible  world,  animate  and  inanimate.  Winds 
blowing,  waters  flowing,  trees  stirring,  insects 
whirring  (dear  me!  I  am  quite  unconsciously 
writing  rhyme),  with  the  various  cries  of  birds 
and  beasts, — lowing  cattle,  bleating  sheep, 
grunting  pigs,  and  cackling  hens, — all  the  in- 
finite discords  that  somehow  or  other  make  a 
beautiful  harmony. 

We  hear  this,  and  are  so  accustomed  to  it  that 
we  think  nothing  of  it ;  but  Prince  Dolor,  who 
had  lived  all  his  days  in  the  dead  silence  of 

[76] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Hopeless  Tower,  heard  it  for  the  first  time. 
Arid  oh!  if  you  had  seen  his  face. 

He  listened,  listened,  as  if  he  could  never  have 
done  listening.  And  he  looked  and  looked,  as  if 
he  could  not  gaze  enough.  Above  all,  the  motion 
of  the  animals  delighted  him:  cows  walking, 
horses  galloping,  little  lambs  and  calves  run- 
ning races  across  the  meadows,  were  such  a 
treat  for  him  to  watch — he  that  was  always  so 
quiet.  But,  these  creatures  having  four  legs, 
and  he  only  two,  the  difference  did  not  strike 
him  painfully. 

Still,  by  and  by,  after  the  fashion  of  children, 
— and  I  fear,  of  many  big  people  too, — he  began 
to  want  something  more  than  he  had,  something 
fresh  and  new. 

" Godmother,"  he  said,  having  now  begun  to 
believe  that,  whether  he  saw  her  or  not,  he  could 
always  speak  to  her  with  full  confidence  that 
she  would  hear  hi™ — "  Godmother,  all  these 
creatures  I  like  exceedingly;  but  I  should  like 
better  to  see  a  creature  like  myself.  Couldn't 
you  show  me  just  one  little  boy?" 

There  was  a  sigh  behind  him, — it  might  have 
been  only  the  wind, — and  the  cloak  remained 
so  long  balanced  motionless  in  air  that  he  was 
half  afraid  his  godmother  had  forgotten  him, 

[771 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

or  was  offended  with  him  for  asking  too  much. 
Suddenly  a  shrill  whistle  startled  him,  even 
through  his  silver  ears,  and  looking  downward, 
he  saw  start  up  from  behind  a  bush  on  a  com- 
mon, something 

Neither  a  sheep  nor  a  horse  nor  a  cow — noth- 
ing upon  four  legs.  This  creature  had  only 
two;  but  they  were  long,  straight,  and  strong. 
And  it  had  a  lithe,  active  body,  and  a  curly  head 
of  black  hair  set  upon  its'  shoulders.  It  was  a 
boy,  a  shepherd-boy,  about  the  Prince's  own 
age — but,  oh!  so  different. 

Not  that  he  was  an  ugly  boy — though  his  face 
was  almost  as  red  as  his  hands,  and  his  shaggy 
hair  matted  like  the  backs  of  his  own  sheep. 
He  was  rather  a  nice-looking  lad;  and  seemed 
so  bright  and  healthy  and  good-tempered — 
"jolly"  would  be  the  word,  only  I  am  not  sure 
if  they  have  such  a  one  in  the  elegant  language 
of  Nomansland — that  the  little  Prince  watched 
him  with  great  admiration. 

" Might  he  come  and  play  with  me?  I  would 
drop  down  to  the  ground  to  him,  or  fetch  him  up 
to  me  here.  Oh,  how  nice  it  would  be  if  I  only 
had  a  little  boy  to  play  with  me." 

But  the  cloak,  usually  so  obedient  to  his 
wishes,  disobeyed  him  now.  There  were  evi- 

[78] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

dently  some  things  which  his  godmother  either 
could  not  or  would  not  give.  The  cloak  hung 
stationary,  high  in  air,  never  attempting  to  de- 
scend. The  shepherd-lad  evidently  took  it  for 
a  large  bird,  and,  shading  his  eyes,  looked  up  at 
it,  making  the  Prince's  heart  beat  fast. 

However,  nothing  ensued.  The  boy  turned 
round,  with  a  long,  loud  whistle — seemingly  his 
usual  and  only  way  of  expressing  his  feelings. 
He  could  not  make  the  thing  out  exactly — it  was 
a  rather  mysterious  affair,  but  it  did  not  trouble 
Him  much — he  was  not  an  " examining"  boy. 

Then,  stretching  himself,  for  he  had  been 
evidently  half  asleep,  he  began  flopping  his 
shoulders  with  his  arms  to  wake  and  warm  him- 
self ;  while  his  dog,  a  rough  collie,  who  had  been 
guarding  the  sheep  meanwhile,  began  to  jump 
upon  him,  barking  with  delight. 

4 'Down,  Snap,  down!  Stop  that,  or  I'll  thrash 
you,"  the  Prince  heard  him  say;  though  with 
such  a  rough,  hard  voice  and  queer  pronuncia- 
tion that  it  was  difficult  to  make  the  words  out. 
" Hollo!  Let's  warm  ourselves  by  a  race." 

They  started  off  together,  boy  and  dog — bark- 
ing and  shouting,  till  it  was  doubtful  which 
made  the  more  noise  or  ran  the  faster.  A 
regular  steeplechase  it  was :  first  across  the  level 

[79] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

common,  greatly  disturbing  the  quiet  sheep ;  and 
then  tearing  away  across  country,  scrambling 
through  hedges  and  leaping  ditches,  and  tumb- 
ling up  and  down  over  plowed  fields.  They  did 
not  seem  to  have  anything  to  run  for — but  as  if 
they  did  it,  both  of  them,  for  the  mere  pleasure 
of  motion. 

And  what  a  pleasure  that  seemed!  To  the 
dog  of  course,  but  scarcely  less  so  to  the  boy. 
How  he  skimmed  along  over  the  ground — his 
cheeks  glowing,  and  his  hair  flying,  and  his  legs 
— oh,  what  a  pair  of  legs  he  had ! 

Prince  Dolor  watched  him  with  great  intent- 
ness,  and  in  a  state  of  excitement  almost  equal 
to  that  of  the  runner  himself — for  a  while. 
Then  the  sweet,  pale  face  grew  a  trifle  paler,  the 
lips  began  to  quiver,  and  the  eyes  to  fill. 

"How  nice  it  must  be  to  run  like  that!"  he 
said  softly,  thinking  that  never — no,  never  in 
this  world — would  he  be  able  to  do  the  same. 

Now  he  understood  what  his  godmother  had 
meant  when  she  gave  him  his  traveling-cloak, 
and  why  he  had  heard  that  sigh — he  was  sure  it 
was  hers — when  he  had  asked  to  see  "just  one 
little  boy." 

"I  think  I  had  rather  not  look  at  him  again," 
said  the  poor  little  Prince,  drawing  himself 

[80] 


"How  nice  it  urnst  "be  to  run  like  thatl" 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

back  into  the  center  of  his  cloak,  and  resuming 
his  favorite  posture,  sitting  like  a  Turk,  with 
his  arms  wrapped  round  his  feeble,  useless  legs. 

"You're  no  good  to  me,"  he  said,  patting 
them  mournfully.  "You  never  will  be  any  good 
to  me.  I  wonder  why  I  had  you  at  all.  I 
wonder  why  I  was  born  at  all,  since  I  was  not 
to  grow  up  like  other  boys.  Why  not?" 

A  question  so  strange,  so  sad,  yet  so  often 
occurring  in  some  form  or  other  in  this  world 
— as  you  will  find,  my  children,  when  you  are 
older — that  even  if  he  had  put  it  to  his  mother 
she  could  only  have  answered  it,  as  we  have  to 
answer  many  as  difficult  things,  by  simply  say- 
ing, "I  don't  know."  There  is  much  that  we  do 
not  know  and  cannot  understand — we  big  folks 
no  more  than  you  little  ones.  We  have  to  accept 
it  all  just  as  you  have  to  accept  anything  which 
your  parents  may  tell  you,  even  though  you 
don't  as  yet  see  the  reason  of  it.  You  may  some- 
time, if  you  do  exactly  as  they  tell  you,  and  are 
content  to  wait. 

Prince  Dolor  sat  a  good  while  thus,  or  it  ap- 
peared to  him  a  good  while,  so  many  thoughts 
came  and  went  through  his  poor  young  mind — 
thoughts  of  great  bitterness,  which,  little  though 

(920,  [81] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRIiNCE 

ho  was,  seemed  to  make  Mm  grow  years  older 
in  a  few  minutes. 

Then  he  fancied  the  cloak  began  to  rock 
gently  to  and  fro,  with  a  soothing  kind  of  mo- 
tion, as  if  he  were  in  somebody's  arms:  some- 
body who  did  not  speak,  but  loved  him  and  com- 
forted him  without  need  of  words;  not  by  de- 
ceiving him  with  false  encouragement  or  hope, 
but  by  making  him  see  the  plain,  hard  truth  in 
all  its  hardness,  and  thus  letting  him  quietly 
face  it,  till  it  grew  softened  down,  and  did  not 
seem  nearly  so  dreadful  after  all. 

Through  the  dreary  silence  and  blankness, 
for  he  had  placed  himself  so  that  he  could  see 
nothing  but  the  sky,  and  had  taken  off  his  silver 
ears  as  well  as  his  gold  spectacles — what  was  the 
use  of  either  when  he  had  no  legs  with  which  to 
walk  or  run? — up  from'  below  there  rose  a  de- 
licious sound. 

You  have  heard  it  hundreds  of  times,  my  chil- 
dren, and  so  have  I.  When  I  was  a  child  I 
thought  there  was  nothing  so  sweet ;  and  I  think 
so  still.  It  was  just  the  song  of  a  skylark, 
mounting  higher  and  higher  from  the  ground, 
till  it  came  so  close  that  Prince  Dolor  could  dis- 
tinguish his  quivering  wings  and  tiny  body, 
almost  too  tiny  to  contain  such  a  gush  of  music. 

[82] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"Oh,  you  beautiful,  beautiful  bird!"  cried  he; 
"I  should  dearly  like  to  take  you  in  and  cuddle 
you.  That  is,  if  I  could — if  I  dared." 

But  he  hesitated.  The  little  brown  creature 
with  its  loud  heavenly  voice  almost  made  him 
afraid.  Nevertheless,  it  also  made  him  happy; 
and  he  watched  and  listened — so  absorbed  that 
he  forgot  all  regret  and  pain,  forgot  everything 
in  the  world  except  the  little  lark. 

It  soared  and  scared,  and  he  was  just  won- 
dering if  it  would  soar  out  of  sight,  and  what  in 
the  world  he  should  do  when  it  was  gone,  when 
it  suddenly  closed  its  wings,  as  larks  do  when 
they  mean  to  drop  to  the  ground.  But,  instead 
of  dropping  to  the  ground,  it  dropped  right  into 
the  little  boy's  breast. 

What  felicity!  If  it  would  only  stay!  A 
tiny,  soft  thing  to  fondle  and  kiss,  to  sing  to 
him  all  day  long,  and>be  his  playfellow  and  com- 
panion, tame  and  tender,  while  to  the  rest  of  the 
world  it  was  a  wild  bird  of  the  air.  What  a 
pride,  what  a  delight !  To  have  something  that 
nobody  else  had — something  all  his  own.  As  the 
traveling-cloak  traveled  on,  he  little  heeded 
where,  and  the  lark  still  stayed,  nestled  down 
in  his  bosom,  hopped  from  his  hand  to  his 
shoulder,  and  kissed  him  with  its  dainty  beak, 

[83] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

as  if  it  loved  him,  Prince  Dolor  forgot  all  his 
grief,  and  was  entirely  happy. 

But  when  he  got  in  sight  of  Hopeless  Tower 
a  painful  thought  struck  him. 

"My  pretty  bird,  wiiat  am  I  to  do  with  you? 
If  I  take  you  into  my  room  and  shut  you  up 
there,  you,  a  wild  skylark  of  the  air,  what  will 
become  of  you  ?  I  am  used  to  this,  but  you  are 
not.  You  will  be  so  miserable;  and  suppose 
my  nurse  should  find  you — she  who  can't  bear 
the  sound  of  singing  ?  Besides,  I  remember  her 
once  telling  me  that  the  nicest  thing  she  ever 
ate  in  her  life  was  lark  pie !" 

The  little  boy  shivered  all  over  at  the  thought. 
And,  though  the  merry  lark  immediately  broke 
into  the  loudest  carol,  as  if  saying  derisively 
that  he  defied  anybody  to  eat  him,  still,  Prince 
Dolor  was  very  uneasy.  In  another  minute  he 
had  made  up  his  mind. 

1  'No,  my  bird,  nothing  so  dreadful  shall 
happen  to  you  if  I  can  help  it ;  I  would  rather 
do  without  you  altogether.  Yes,  I'll  try.  Fly 
away,  my  darling,  my  beautiful!  Good-by,  my 
merry,  merry  bird." 

Opening  his  two  caressing  hands,  in  widen, 
as  if  for  protection,  he  had  folded  it,  he  let  the 
lark  go.  It  lingered  a  minute,  perching  on  the 

[84] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

rim  of  the  cloak,  and  looking  at  Mm  with  eyes 
of  almost  human  tenderness ;  then  away  it  flew, 
far  up  into  the  blue  sky.  It  was  only  a  bird. 

But  some  time  after,  when  Prince  Dolor  had 
eaten  his  supper — somewhat  drearily,  except 
for  the  thought  that  he  could  not  possibly  sup 
off  lark  pie  now — and  gone  quietly  to  bed,  the 
old  familiar  little  bed,  where  he  was  accustomed 
to  sleep,  or  lie  awake  contentedly  thinking — 
suddenly  he  heard  outside  the*  window  a  little 
faint  carol — faint  but  cheerful — cheerful  even 
though  it  was  the  middle  of  the  night. 

The  dear  little  lark!  it  had  not  flown  away, 
after  all.  And  it  was  truly  the  most  extraor- 
dinary bird,  for,  unlike  ordinary  larks,  it 
kept  hovering  about  the  tower  in  the  silence  and 
darkness  of  the  night,  outside  the  window  or 
over  the  roof.  "Whenever  he  listened  for  a  mo- 
ment, he  heard  it  singing  still. 

He  went  to  sleep  as  happy  as  a  king. 


[85] 


CHAPTER  VII 

APPT  as  a  king."  How  far  kings 
are  happy  I  cannot  say,  no  more 
than  could  Prince  Dolor,  though  he 
had  once  been  a  king  himself.  But 
he  remembered  nothing  about  it,  and  there  was 
nobody  to  tell  him,  except  his  nurse,  who  had 
been  forbidden  upon  pain  of  death  to  let  him 
know  anything  about  his  dead  parents,  or  the 
king  his  uncle,  or  indeed  any  part  of  his  own 
history. 

Sometimes  he  speculated  about  himself, 
whether  he  had  had  a  father  and  mother  as  other 
little  boys  had,  what  they  had  been  like,  and 
why  he  had  never  seen  them.  But,  knowing 
nothing  about  them,  he  did  not  miss  them — only 
once  or  twice,  reading  pretty  stories  about  little 
children  and  their  mothers,  who  helped  them 
when  they  were  in  difficulty  and  comforted 
them  when  they  were  sick,  he  feeling  ill  and  dull 
and  lonely,  wondered  what  had  become  of  his 
mother  and  why  she  never  came  to  see  him. 
Then,  in  his  history  lessons,  of  course  he  read 

[86] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

about  kings  and  princes,  and  the  governments 
of  different  countries,  and  the  events  that  hap- 
pened there.  And  though  he  but  faintly  took  in 
all  this,  still  he  did  take  it  in  a  little,  and  worried 
his  young  brain  about  it,  and  perplexed  his 
nurse  with  questions,  to  which  she  returned 
sharp  and  mysterious  answers,  which  only  set 
him  thinking  the  more. 

He  had  plenty  of  time  for  thinking.  After 
his  last  journey  in  the  traveling-cloak,  the 
journey  which  had  given  him  so  much  pain,  his 
desire  to  see  the  world  somehow  faded  away. 
He  contented  himself  with  reading  his  books, 
and  looking  out  of  the  tower  windows,  and  lis- 
tening to  his  beloved  little  lark,  which  had  come 
home  with  him  that  day,  and  never  left  him 
again. 

True,  it  kept  out  of  the  way ;  and  though  his 
nurse  sometimes  dimly  heard  it,  and  said 
"What  is  that  horrid  noise  outside?"  she  never 
got  the  faintest  chance  of  making  it  into  a  lark 
pie.  Prince  Dolor  had  his  pet  all  to  himself, 
and  though  he  seldom  saw  it,  he  knew  it  was  near 
him,  and  he  caught  continually,  at  odd  hours  of 
the  day,  and  even  in  the  night,  fragments  of  its 
delicious  song. 

All  during  the  winter— so  far  as  there  ever 

[87] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME   PRINCE 

was  any  difference  between  summer  and  winter 
in  Hopeless  Tower — the  little  bird  cheered  and 
amused  him.  He  scarcely  needed  anything 
more — not  even  his  traveling-cloak,  which  lay 
bundled  up  unnoticed  in  a  corner,  tied  up  in  its 
innumerable  knots. 

Nor  did  his  godmother  come  near  him.  It 
seemed  as  if  she  had  given  these  treasures  and 
left  him  alone — to  use  them  or  lose  them,  apply 
them  or  misapply  them,  according  to  his  own 
choice.  That  is  all  we  can  do  with  children 
when  they  grow  into  big  children  old  enough  to 
distinguish  between  right  and  wrong,  and  too 
old  to  be  forced  to  do  either. 

Prince  Dolor  was  now  quite  a  big  boy.  Not 
tall — alas !  he  never  could  be  that,  with  his  poor 
little  shrunken  legs,  which  were  of  no  use,  only 
an  encumbrance.  But  he  was  stout  and  strong, 
with  great  sturdy  shoulders,  and  muscular 
arms,  upon  which  he  could  swing  himself  about 
almost  like  a  monkey.  As  if  in  compensation 
for  his  useless  lower  limbs,  Nature  had  given 
to  these  extra  strength  and  activity.  His  face, 
too,  was  very  handsome;  thinner,  firmer,  more 
manly ;  but  still  the  sweet  face  of  his  childhood 
— his  mother's  own  face. 

[88] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

How  his  mother  would  have  liked  to  look  at 
him!  Perhaps  she  did — who  knows? 

The  boy  was  not  a  stupid  boy  either.  He 
could  learn  almost  anything  he  chose — and  he 
did  choose,  which  was  more  than  half  the  battle. 
He  never  gave  up  his  lessons  till  he  had  learned 
them  all — never  thought  it  a  punishment  that 
he  had  to  work  at  them,  and  that  they  cost  him  a 
deal  of  trouble  sometimes. 

"But,"  thought  he,  "men  work,  and  it  must 
be  so  grand  to  be  a  man — a  prince  too;  and  I 
fancy  princes  work  harder  than  anybody — ex- 
cept kings.  The  princes  I  read  about  generally 
turn  into  kings.  I  wonder" — the  boy  was  al- 
ways wondering — "Nurse," — and  one  day  he 
startled  her  with  a  sudden  question, — "tell  me — 
shall  I  ever  be  a  king?" 

The  woman  stood,  perplexed  beyond  expres- 
sion. So  long  a  time  had  passed  by  since  her 
crime — if  it  were  a  crime — and  her  sentence, 
that  she  now  seldom  thought  of  either.  Even 
her  punishment — to  be  shut  up  for  life  in  Hope- 
less Tower — she  had  gradually  got  used  to. 
Used  also  to  the  little  lame  Prince,  her  charge 
— whom  at  first  she  had  hated,  though  she  care- 
fully did  everything  to  keep  him  alive,  since 
upon  him  her  own  life  hung. 

[89] 


But  latterly  she  had  ceased  to  hate  him,  and, 
in  a  sort  of  way,  almost  loved  him — at  least, 
enough  to  be  sorry  for  him — an  innocent  child, 
imprisoned  here  till  he  grew  into  an  old  man, 
and  became  a  dull,  worn-out  creature  like  her- 
self. Sometimes,  watching  him,  she  felt  more 
sorry  for  him  than  even  for  herself;  and  then, 
seeing  she  looked  a  less  miserable  and  ugly 
woman,  he  did  not  shrink  from  her  as  usual. 

He  did  not  now.  " Nurse — dear  nurse,"  said 
he,  "I  don't  mean  to  vex  you,  but  tell  me — what 
is  a  king?  shall  I  ever  be  one1?" 

When  she  began  to  think  less  of  herself  and 
more  of  the  child,  the  woman's  courage  in- 
creased. The  idea  came  to  her — what  harm 
would  it  be,  even  if  he  did  know  his  own  history  ? 
Perhaps  he  ought  to  know  it — for  there  had 
been  various  ups  and  downs,  usurpations,  rev- 
olutions, and  restorations  in  Nomansland,  as  in 
most  other  countries.  Something  might  happen 
— who  could  tell  ?  Changes  might  occur.  Pos- 
sibly a  crown  would  even  yet  be  set  upon  those 
pretty,  fair  curls — which  she  began  to  think 
prettier  than  ever  when  she  saw  the  imaginary 
coronet  upon  them. 

She  sat  down,  considering  whether  her  oath, 
never  to  "say  a  word"  to  Prince  Dolor  about 

[90] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

« 

himself,  would  be  broken  if  she  were  to  take  a 
pencil  and  write  what  was  to  be  told.  A  mere 
quibble — a  mean,  miserable  quibble.  But  then 
she  was  a  miserable  woman,  more  to  be  pitied 
than  scorned. 

After  long  doubt,  and  with  great  trepidation, 
she  put  her  fingers  to  her  lips,  and  taking  the 
Prince's  slate — with  the  sponge  tied  to  it,  ready 
to  rub  out  the  writing  in  a  minute — she  wrote : 

"You  are  a  king." 

Prince  Dolor  started.  His  face  grew  pale, 
and  then  flushed  all  over ;  he  held  himself  erect. 
Lame  as  he  was,  anybody  could  see  he  was  born 
to  be  a  king. 

"Hush!"  said  the  nurse,  as  he  was  beginning 
to  speak.  And  then,  terribly  frightened  all  the 
while, — people  who  have  done  wrong  always 
are  frightened, — she  wrote  down  in  a  few 
hurried  sentences  his  history.  How  his  parents 
had  died — his  uncle  had  usurped  his  throne,  and 
sent  him  to  end  his  days  in  this  lonely  tower. 

* 1 1,  too, ' '  added  she,  bursting  into  tears.  l  i  Un- 
less, indeed,  you  could  get  out  into  the  world, 
and  fight  for  your  rights  like  a  man.  And 
fight  for  me  also,  my  Prince,  that  I  may  not  die 

tin  this  desolate  place.  >a 
"Poor  old  nurse  I"  said  the  boy  compassion- 

[91] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

ately.  For  somehow,  boy  as  he  was,  when  he 
heard  he  was  born  to  be  a  king,  he  felt  like  a  man 
— like  a  king — who  could  afford  to  be  tender 
because  he  was  strong. 

He  scarcely  slept  that  night,  and  even  though 
he  heard  his  little  lark  singing  in  the  sunrise, 
he  barely  listened  to  it.  Things  more  serious 
and  important  had  taken  possession  of  his  mind. 

"Suppose,"  thought  he,  "I  were  to  do  as  she 
says,  and  go  out  in  the  world,  no  matter  how  it 
hurts  me — the  world  of  people,  active  people,  as 
that  boy  I  saw.  They  might  only  laugh  at  me — 
poor  helpless  creature  that  I  am;  but  still  I 
might  show  them  I  could  do  something.  At  any 
rate,  I  might  go  and  see  if  there  were  anything 
for  me  to  do.  Godmother,  help  me!" 

It  was  so  long  since  he  had  asked  her  help 
that  he  was  hardly  surprised  when  he  got  no 
answer — only  the  little  lark  outside  the  window 
sang  louder  and  louder,  and  the  sun  rose, 
flooding  the  room  with  light. 

Prince  Dolor  sprang  out  of  bed,  and  began 
dressing  himself,  which  was  hard  work,  for  he 
was  not  used  to  it — he  had  always  been  accus- 
tomed to  depend  upon  his  nurse  for  everything. 

"But  I  must  now  learn  to  be  independent," 

[92] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

thought  he.  "Fancy  a  king  being  dressed  like  a 
baby  I" 

So  he  did  the  best  he  could, — awkwardly  but 
cheerily, — and  then  he  leaped  to  the  corner 
where  lay  his  traveling-cloak,  untied  it  as 
before,  and  watched  it  unrolling  itself — which 
it  did  rapidly,  with  a  hearty  good-will,  as  if 
quite  tired  of  idleness.  So  was  Prince  Dolor — or 
felt  as  if  he  were.  He  jumped  into  the  middle 
of  it,  said  his  charm,  and  was  out  through  the 
skylight  immediately. 

"Good-by,  pretty  lark!"  he  shouted,  as  he 
passed  it  on  the  wing,  still  warbling  its  carol 
to  the  newly  risen  sun.  "You  have  been  my 
pleasure,  my  delight ;  now  I  must  go  and  work. 
Sing  to  old  nurse  till  I  come  back  again.  Per- 
haps she'll  hear  you — perhaps  she  won't — but 
it  will  do  her  good  all  the  same.  Good-by !" 

But,  as  the  cloak  hung  irresolute  in  air,  he 
suddenly  remembered  that  he  had  not  deter- 
mined where  to  go — indeed,  he  did  not  know, 
and  there  was  nobody  to  tell  him. 

"Godmother,"  he  cried,  in  much  perplexity, 
"you  know  what  I  want, — at  least,  I  hope  you 
do,  for  I  hardly  do  myself — take  me  where  I 
ought  to  go ;  show  me  whatever  I  ought  to  see — 
never  mind  what  I  like  to  see,"  as  a  sudden  idea 

[93] 


came  into  his  mind  that  he  might  see  many  pain- 
ful and  disagreeable  things.  But  this  journey 
was  not  for  pleasure — as  before.  He  was  not 
a  baby  now,  to  do  nothing  but  play — big  boys 
do  not  always  play.  Nor  men  neither — they 
work.  Thus  much  Prince  Dolor  knew — though 
yery  little  more. 

As  the  cloak  started  off,  traveling  faster  than 
he  had  ever  known  it  to  do, — through  sky-land 
and  cloud-land,  over  freezing  mountain-tops, 
and  desolate  stretches  of  forest,  and  smiling 
cultivated  plains,  and  great  lakes  that  seemed 
to  him  almost  as  shoreless  as  the  sea, — he  was 
often  rather  frightened.  But  he  crouched  down, 
silent  and  quiet ;  what  was  the  use  of  making  a 
fuss  ?  and,  wrapping  himself  up  in  his  bear-skin, 
waited  for  what  was  to  happen. 

After  some  time  he  heard  a  murmur  in  the 
distance,  increasing  more  and  more  till  it  grew 
like  the  hum  of  a  gigantic  hive  of  bees.  And, 
stretching  his  chin  over  the  rim  of  his  cloak, 
Prince  Dolor  saw — far,  far  below  him,  yet,  with 
his  gold  spectacles  and  silver  ears  on,  he  -could 
distinctly  hear  and  see — what  ? 

Most  of  us  have  some  tune  or  other  visited  a 
great  metropolis — have  wandered  through  its 
network  of  streets — lost  ourselves  in  its  crowds 

[94] 


of  people — looked  up  at  its  tall  rows  of  houses, 
its  grand  public  buildings,  churches,  and 
squares.  Also,  perhaps,  we  have  peeped  into  its 
miserable  little  back  alleys,  where  dirty  chil- 
dren play  in  gutters  all  day  and  half  the  night — 
even  young  boys  go  about  picking  pockets,  with 
nobody  to  tell  them  it  is  wrong  except  the  police- 
man, and  he  simply  takes  them  off  to  prison. 
And  all  this  wretchedness  is  close  behind  the 
grandeur — like  the  two  sides  of  the  leaf  of  a 
book. 

An  awful  sight  is  a  large  city,  seen  any  how 
from  any  where.  But,  suppose  you  were  to  see 
it  from  the  upper  air,  where,  with  your  eyes 
and  ears  open,  you  could  take  in  everything  at 
once?  What  would  it  look  like?  How  would 
you  feel  about  it  ?  I  hardly  know  myself.  Do 
you? 

Prince  Dolor  had  need  to  be  a  king — that  is, 
a  boy  with  a  kingly  nature — to  be  able  to  stand 
such  a  sight  without  being  utterly  overcome. 
But  he  was  very  much  bewildered — as  bewil- 
dered as  a  blind  person  who  is  suddenly  made  to 
see. 

He  gazed  down  on  the  city  below  him,  and 
then  put  his  hand  over  his  eyes. 

"I  can't  bear  to  look  at  it,  it  is  so  beautiful — 

[95] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

so  dreadful.  And  I  don't  understand  it — not 
one  bit.  There  is  nobody  to  tell  me  about  it. 
I  wish  I  had  somebody  to  speak  to." 

"Do  you?  Then  pray  speak  to  me.  I  was 
always  considered  good  at  conversation." 

The  voice  that  squeaked  out  this  reply  was  an 
excellent  imitation  of  the  human  one,  though  it 
came  only  from  a  bird.  No  lark  this  time,  how- 
ever, but  a  great  black  and  white  creature  that 
flew  into  the  cloak,  and  began  walking  round 
and  round  on  the  edge  of  it  with  a  dignified 
stride,  one  foot  before  the  other,  like  any  un- 
f  eathered  biped  you  could  name. 

"I  haven't  the  honor  of  your  acquaintance, 
sir,L"  said  the  boy  politely. 

"Ma'am,  if  you  please.  I  am  a  mother  bird, 
and  my  name  is  Mag,  and  I  shall  be  happy  to 
tell  you  everything  you  want  to  know.  For  I 
know  a  great  deal;  and  I  enjoy  talking.  My 
family  is  of  great  antiquity;  we  have  built  in 
this  palace  for  hundreds — that  is  to  say,  dozens 
of  years.  I  am  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
king,  the  queen,  and  the  little  princes  and  prin- 
cesses— also  the  maids  of  honor,  and  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city.  I  talk  a  good  deal,  but  I 
always  talk  sense,  and  I  daresay  I  should  be  ex- 

[96] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

ceedingly  useful  to  a  poor  little  ignorant  boy 
like  you." 

"I  am  a  prince,"  said  the  other  gently. 

"All  right.  And  I  am  a  magpie.  You  will 
find  me  a  most  respectable  bird." 

' '  I  have  no  doubt  of  it, ' 9  was  the  polite  answer 
— though  he  thought  in  his  own  mind  that  Mag 
must  have  a  very  good  opinion  of  herself.  But 
she  was  a  lady  and  a  stranger,  so  of  course 
he  was  civil  to  her. 

She  settled  herself  at  his  elbow,  and  began 
to  chatter  away,  pointing  out  with  one  skinny 
claw,  while  she  balanced  herself  on  the  other, 
every  object  of  interest,  evidently  believing,  as 
no  doubt  all  its  inhabitants  did,  that  there  was 
no  capital  in  the  world  like  the  great  metrop- 
olis of  Nomansland. 

I  have  not  seen  it,  and  therefore  cannot  de- 
scribe it,  so  we  will  just  take  it  upon  trust,  and 
suppose  it  to  be,  like  every  other  fine  city,  the 
finest  city  that  ever  was  built.  Mag  said  so — 
and  of  course  she  knew. 

Nevertheless,  there  were  a  few  things  in  it 
which  surprised  Prince  Dolor — and?  as  he  had 
said,  he  could  not  understand  them  at  all.  One 
half  the  people  seemed  so  happy  and  busy — 
hurrying  up  and  down  the  full  streets,  or  driv- 

[97] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

ing  lazily  along  the  parks  in  their  grand  car- 
riages, while  the  other  half  were  so  wretched 
and  miserable. 

" Can't  the  world  be  made  a  little  more  levels 
I  would  try  to  do  it  if  I  were  a  king. ' ' 

"But  you're  not  the  king:  only  a  little  goose 
of  a  boy,"  returned  the  magpie  loftily.  "And 
I'm  here  not  to  explain  things,  only  to  show 
them.  Shall  I  show  you  the  royal  palace?" 

It  was  a  very  magnificent  palace.  It  had  ter- 
races and  gardens,  battlements  and  towers.  It 
extended  over  acres  of  ground,  and  had  in  it 
rooms  enough  to  accommodate  half  the  city.  Its 
windows  looked  in  all  directions,  but  none  of 
them  had  any  particular  view — except  a  small 
one,  high  up  toward  the  roof,  which  looked  out 
en  the  Beautiful  Mountains.  But  since  the 
queen  died  there  it  had  been  closed,  boarded  up, 
indeed,  the  magpie  said.  It  was  so  little  and  in- 
convenient that  nobody  cared  to  live  in  it.  Be- 
sides, the  lower  apartments,  which  had  no  view, 
were  magnificent — worthy  of  being  inhabited 
by  the  king. 

"I  should  like  to  see  the  king,L"  said  Prince 
Dolor. 


[98] 


CHAPTER  VHI 

WHAT,  I  wonder,  would  fie  most 
people's  idea  of  a  king?  ^What  was 
Prince  Dolor's? 

Perhaps  a  very  splendid  person- 
age, with  a  crown  on  his  head  and  a  scepter  in 
his  hand,  sitting  on  a  throne  and  judging  the 
people.  Always  doing  right,  and  never  wrong 
— "The  king  can  do  no  wrong"  was  a  law  laid 
down  in  olden  times.  Never  cross,  or  tired,  or 
sick,  or  suffering ;  perfectly  handsome  and  well 
dressed,  calm  and  good-tempered,  ready  to  see 
and  hear  everybody,  and  discourteous  to  no- 
body ;  all  things  always  going  well  with  him,  and 
nothing  unpleasant  ever  happening. 

This,  probably,  was  what  Prince  Dolor  ex- 
pected to  see.  And  what  did  he  see?  But  I 
must  tell  you  how  he  saw  it. 

"Ah,"  said  the  magpie,  "no  levee  to-day. 
The  King  is  ill,  though  his  Majesty  does  not 
wish  it  to  be  generally  known — it  would  be  so 
veiy  inconvenient.  He  can't  see  you,  but  per- 
haps you  might  like  to  go  and  take  a  look  at  him 

[99] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

in  a  way  I  often  do?    It  is  so  very  amusing." 

Amusing,  indeed! 

The  prince  was  just  now  too  much  excited  to 
talk  much.  Was  he  not  going  to  see  the  king  his 
uncle,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  and  de- 
throned himself ;  had  stepped  into  all  the  pleas- 
ant things  that  he,  Prince  Dolor,  ought  to  have 
had,  and  shut  him  up  in  a  desolate  tower  1  What 
was  he  like,  this  great,  bad,  clever  man?  Had 
he  got  all  the  things  he  wanted,  which  another 
ought  to  have  had?  And  did  he  enjoy  them? 

11  Nobody  knows,"  answered  the  magpie,  just 
as  if  she  had  been  sitting  inside  the  prince's 
heart,  instead  of  on  the  top  of  his  shoulder.  "He 
is  a  king,  and  that's  enough.  For  the  rest  no- 
body knows." 

As  she  spoke,  Mag  flew  down  on  to  the  palace 
roof,  where  the  cloak  had  rested,  settling  down 
between  the  great  stacks  of  chimneys  as  com- 
fortably as  if  on  the  ground.  She  pecked  at  .the 
tiles  with  her  beak — truly  she  was  a  wonderful 
bird — and  immediately  a  little  hole  opened,  a 
sort  of  door,  through  which  could  be  seen  dis- 
tinctly the  chamber  below. 

"Now  look  in,  my  Prince.  Make  haste,  for  I 
must  soon  shut  it  up  again." 

[100] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

But  the  boy  hesitated.  " Isn't  it  rude? — 
won't  they  think  us  intruding?" 

"Oh,  dear  no!  there's  a  hole  like  this  in  every 
palace;  dozens  of  holes,  indeed.  Everybody 
knows  it,  but  nobody  speaks  of  it.  Intrusion! 
Why,  though  the  royal  family  are  supposed  to 
live  shut  up  behind  stone  walls  ever  so  thick,  all 
the  world  knows  that  they  live  in  a  glass  house 
where  everybody  can  see  them  and  throw  a  stone 
at  them.  Now  pop  down  on  your  knees,  and 
take  a  peep  at  his  Majesty!" 

His  Majesty! 

The  Prince  gazed  eagerly  down  into  a  large 
room,  the  largest  room  he  had  ever  beheld,  with 
furniture  and  hangings  grander  than  anything 
he  could  have  ever  imagined.  A  stray  sunbeam, 
coming  through  a  crevice  of  the  darkened  win- 
dows, struck  across  the  carpet,  and  it  was  the 
loveliest  carpet  ever  woven — just  like  a  bed  of 
flowers  to  walk  over;  only  nobody  walked  over 
it,  the  room  being  perfectly  empty  and  silent. 

"Where  is  the  King?"  asked  the  puzzled  boy. 

"There,"  said  Mag,  pointing  with  one  wrin- 
kled claw  to  a  magnificent  bed,  large  enough  to 
contain  six  people.  In  the  center  of  it,  just 
visible  under  the  silken  counterpane, — quite 
straight  and  still, — with  its  head  on  the  lace 

[1011 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

pillow,  lay  a  small  figure,  something  like  wax- 
work, fast  asleep — very  fast  asleep !  There  was 
a  number  of  sparkling  rings  on  the  tiny  yellow 
hands,  that  were  curled  a  little,  helplessly,  like 
a  baby's,  outside  the  coverlet;  the  eyes  were 
shut,  the  nose  looked  sharp  and  thin,  and  the 
long  gray  beard  hid  the  mouth  and  lay  over  the 
breast.  A  sight  not  ugly  nor  frightening,  only 
solemn  and  quiet.  And  so  very  silent — two  little 
flies  buzzing  about  the  curtains  of  the  bed  being 
the  only  audible  sound. 

"Is  that  the  King?'1  whispered  Prince  Dolor. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  bird. 

He  had  been  angry — furiously  angry — 
ever  since  he  knew  how  his  uncle  had  taken  the 
crown,  and  sent  him,  a  poor  little  helpless  child, 
to  be  shut  up  for  life,  just  as  if  he  had  been  dead. 
Many  times  the  boy  had  felt  as  if,  king  as  he 
was,  he  should  like  to  strike  him,  this  great, 
strong,  wicked  man. 

Why,  you  might  as  well  have  struck  a  baby! 
How  helpless  he  lay,  with  his  eyes  shut,  and  his 
idle  hands  folded :  they  had  no  more  work  to  do, 
bad  or  good. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  him?"  asked  the 
Prince. 

"He  is  dead,2'  said  the  Magpie,  with  a  croak. 

[102] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

No,  there  was  not  the  least  use  in  being  angry 
with  him  now.  On  the  contrary,  the  Prince  felt 
almost  sorry  for  him,  except  that  he  looked  so 
peaceful  with  all  his  cares  at  rest.  And  this  was 
being  dead?  So  even  kings  died? 

"Well,  well,  he  hadn't  an  easy  life,  folk  say, 
for  all  his  grandeur.  Perhaps  he  is  glad  it  is 
over.  Good-by,  your  Majesty.7' 

With  another  cheerful  tap  of  her  beak,  Mis- 
tress Mag  shut  down  the  little  door  in  the  tiles, 
and  Prince  Dolor's  first  and  last  sight  of  his 
uncle  was  ended. 

He  sat  in  the  center  of  his  traveling-cloak, 
silent  and  thoughtful. 

"What  shall  we  do  now?"  said  the  magpie. 
"There's  nothing  much  more  to  be  done  with 
his  majesty,  except  a  fine  funeral,  which  I  shall 
certainly  go  and  see.  All  the  world  wilL  He 
interested  the  world  exceedingly  when  he  was 
alive,  and  he  ought  to  do  it  now  he 's  dead — just 
once  more.  And  since  he  can't  hear  me,  I  may 
as  well  say  that,  on  the  whole,  his  majesty  is 
much  better  dead  than  alive — if  we  can  only  get 
somebody  in  his  place.  There'll  be  such  a  row 
in  the  city  presently.  Suppose  we  float  up  again 
and  see  it  all — at  a  safe  distance,  though.  It 
will  be  such  fun!" 

[103] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

" What  will  be  fun*" 

"A  revolution." 

Whether  anybody  except  a  magpie  would  have 
called  it  "fun"  I  don't  know,  but  it  certainly 
was  a  remarkable  scene. 

As  soon  as  the  cathedral  bell  began  to  toll  and 
the  minute-guns  to  fire,  announcing  to  the  king- 
dom that  it  was  without  a  king,  the  people 
gathered  in  crowds,  stopping  at  street  corners 
to  talk  together.  The  murmur  now  and  then 
rose  into  a  shout,  and  the  shout  into  a  roar. 
When  Prince  Dolor,  quietly  floating  in  upper  air, 
caught  the  sound  of  their  different  and  opposite 
cries,  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  the  whole  city  had 
gone  mad  together. 

"Long  live  the  king!"'  "The  king  is  dead — 
down  with  the  king!"  "Down  with  the  crown, 
and  the  king  too ! "  "  Hurrah  for  the  republic ! '  '• 
"Hurrah  for  no  government  at  all!" 

Such  were  the  shouts  which  traveled  up  to  the 
traveling-cloak.  And  then  began — oh,  what  a 
scene ! 

When  you  children  are  grown  men  and  women 
— or  before — you  will  hear  and  read  in  books 
about  what  are  called  revolutions — earnestly  I 
trust  that  neither  I  nor  you  may  ever  see  one. 
But  they  have  happened,  and  may  happen  again, 

[104] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

in  other  countries  besides  Nomanslaiid,  when 
wicked  kings  have  helped  to  make  their  people 
wicked  too,  or  out  of  an  unrighteous  nation  have 
sprung  rulers  equally  bad ;  or,  without  either  of 
these  causes,  when  a  restless  country  has  fancied 
any  change  better  than  no  change  at  all. 

For  me,  I  don't  like  changes,  unless  pretty 
sure  that  they  are  for  good.  And  how  good  can 
come  out  of  absolute  evil — the  horrible  evil  that 
went  on  this  night  under  Prince  Dolor's  very 
eyes — soldiers  shooting  down  people  by  hun- 
dreds in  the  streets,  scaffolds  erected,  and  heads 
dropping  off — houses  burned,  and  women  and 
children  murdered — this  is  more  than  I  can 
understand. 

But  all  these  things  you  will  find  in  history, 
my  children,  and  must  by  and  by  judge  for  your- 
selves the  right  and  wrong  of  them,  as  far  as 
anybody  ever  can  judge. 

Prince  Dolor  saw  it  all.  Things  happened 
so  fast  one  after  another  that  they  quite  con- 
fused his  faculties. 

"Oh,  let  me  go  home,"  he  cried  at  last,  stop- 
ping his  ears  and  shutting  his  eyes ;  "only  let  me 
go  home!"  for  even  his  lonely  tower  seemed 
home,  and  its  dreariness  and  silence  absolute 
paradise  after  all  this. 

[105] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"Good-by,  then,"  said  the  magpie,  flapping 
her  wings.  She  had  been  chatting  incessantly 
all  day  and  all  night,  for  it  was  actually  thus 
long  that  Prince  Dolor  had  been  hovering  over 
the  city,  neither  eating  nor  sleeping,  with  all 
these  terrible  things  happening  under  his  very 
eyes.  "  You've  had  enough,  I  suppose,  of  seeing 
the  world?" 

"Oh,  I  have — I  have!"  cried  the  prince,  with 
a  shudder. 

'That  is,  till  next  time.  All  right,  your  royal 
highness.  You  don't  know  me,  but  I  know  you. 
We  may  meet  again  some  time. ' ' 

She  looked  at  him  with  her  clear,  piercing 
eyes,  sharp  enough  to  see  through  everything, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  they  changed  from  bird's 
eyes  to  human  eyes — the  very  eyes  of  his  god- 
mother, whom  he  had  not  seen  for  ever  so  long. 
But  the  minute  afterward  she  became  only  a 
bird,  and  with  a  screech  and  a  chatter,  spread 
her  wings  and  flew  away. 

Prince  D'olor  fell  into  a  kind  of  swoon  of 
utter  misery,  bewilderment,  and  exhaustion,  and 
when  he  awoke  he  found  himself  in  his  own  room 
— alone  and  quiet — with  the  dawn  just  breaking, 
and  the  long  rim  of  yellow  light  in  the  horizon 
glimmering  through  the  window-panes. 

1106] 


CHAPTER  IX 

HEN  Prince  Dolor  sat  up  in  bed,  try- 
ing  to   remember   where   he   was, 
whither  he  had  been,  and  what  he 
had  seen  the  day  before,  he  per- 
ceived that  his  room  was  empty. 

Generally  his  nurse  rather  worried  him  by 
breaking  his  slumbers,  coming  in  and  "  setting 
things  to  rights,"  as  she  called  it.  Now  the  dust 
lay  thick  upon  chairs  and  tables;  there  was  no 
harsh  voice  heard  to  scold  him  for  not  getting 
up  immediately,  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  this 
boy  did  not  always  do.  For  he  so  enjoyed  lying 
still,  and  thinking  lazily  about  everything  or 
nothing,  that,  if  he  had  not  tried  hard  against  it, 
he  would  certainly  have  become  like  those  cele- 
brated 

"Two  little  men 
Who  lay  in  their  bed  till  the  clock  struck  ten." 

It  was  striking  ten  now,  and  still  no  nurse  was 
to  be  seen.  He  was  rather  relieved  at  first,  for 
he  felt  so  tired ;  and  besides,  when  he  stretched 
out  his  arm,  he  found  to  his  dismay  that  he  had 
gone  to  bed  in  his  clothes. 

[107] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Very  uncomfortable  he  felt,  of  course;  and 
just  a  little  frightened.  Especially  when  he 
began  to  call  and  call  again,  but  nobody  an- 
swered. Often  he  used  to  think  how  nice  it 
would  be  to  get  rid  of  his  nurse  and  live  in  this 
tower  all  by  himself — like  a  sort  of  monarch, 
able  to  do  everything  he  liked,  and  leave  undone 
all  that  he  did  not  want  to  do ;  but  now  that  this 
seemed  really  to  have  happened,  he  did  not  like 
it  at  all. 

"Nurse, — dear  nurse, — please  come  back!"  he 
called  out.  "Come  back,  and  I  will  be  the  best 
boy  in  all  the  land."j 

And  when  she  did  not  come  back,  and  nothing 
but  silence  answered  his  lamentable  call,  he  very 
nearly  began  to  cry. 

"This  won't  do,"  he  said  at  last,  dashing  the 
tears  from  his  eyes.  "It's  just  like  a  baby,  and 
I'm  a  big  boy — shall  be  a  man  some  day.  What 
has  happened,  I  wonder  ?  1 11  go  and  see. ' ' 

He  sprang  out  of  bed, — not  to  his  feet,  alas! 
but  to  his  poor  little  weak  knees,  and  crawled  on 
them  from  room  to  room.  All  the  four  chambers 
were  deserted — not  forlorn  or  untidy,  for  every- 
thing seemed  to  have  been  done  for  his  comfort 
— the  breakfast  and  dinner  things  were  laid,  the 
food  spread  in  order.  He  might  live  "like  a 

[108] 


prince,"  as  the  proverb  is,  for  several  days. 
But  the  place  was  entirely  forsaken — there  was 
evidently  not  a  creature  but  himself  in  the 
solitary  tower. 

A  great  fear  came  upon  the  poor  boy.  Lonely 
as  his  life  had  been,  he  had  never  known  what  it 
was  to  be  absolutely  alone.  A  kind  of  despair 
seized  him — no  violent  anger  or  terror,  but  a 
sort  of  patient  desolation. 

"What  in  the  world  am  I  to  do?"  thought  he, 
and  sat  down  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  half  in- 
clined to  believe  that  it  would  be  better  to  give 
up  entirely,  lay  himself  down,  and  die. 

This  feeling,  however,  did  not  last  long,  for 
he  was  young  and  strong,  and,  I  said  before,  by 
nature  a  very  courageous  boy.  There  came  into 
his  head,  somehow  or  other,  a  proverb  that  his 
nurse  had  taught  him — the  people  of  Nomans- 
land  were  very  fond  of  proverbs : 

"For  every  evil  under  the  sun 
There  is  a  remedy,  or  there's  none; 
If  there  is  one,  try  to  find  it — 
If  there  isn't,  never  mind  it." 

"I  wonder  is  there  a  remedy  now,  and  could  I 
find  it?"  cried  the  Prince,  jumping  up  and 
looking  out  of  the  window. 

[109] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

No  help  there.  He  only  saw  the  broad,  bleak, 
sunshiny  plain — that  is,  at  first.  But  by  and  by, 
in  the  circle  of  mud  that  surrounded  the  base 
of  the  tower,  he  perceived  distinctly  the  marks 
of  a  horse's  feet,  and  just  in  the  spot  where  the 
deaf-mute  was  accustomed  to  tie  up  his  great 
black  charger,  while  he  himself  ascended,  there 
lay  the  remains  of  a  bundle  of  hay  and  a  feed  of 
corn. 

"  Yes,  that's  it.  He  has  come  and  gone,  taking 
nurse  away  with  him.  Poor  nurse!  how  glad 
she  would  be  to  go!" 

That  was  Prince  Dolor's  first  thought.  His 
second— wasn't  it  natural? — was  a  passionate 
indignation  at  her  cruelty — at  the  cmelty  of  all 
the  world  toward  him,  a  poor  little  helpless  boy. 
Then  he  determined,  forsaken  as  he  was,  to  try 
and  hold  on  to  the  last,  and  not  to  die  as  long  as 
he  could  possibly  help  it. 

Anyhow,  it  would  be  easier  to  die  here  than 
out  in  the  world,  among  the  terrible  doings 
which  he  had  just  beheld — from  the  midst  of 
which,  it  suddenly  struck  him,  the  deaf-mute 
had  come,  contriving  somehow  to  make  the  nurse 
understand  that  the  king  was  dead,  and  she  need 
have  no  fear  in  going  back  to  the  capital,  where 
there  was  a  grand  revolution,  and  everything 

[110] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

turned  upside  down.    So,  of  course,  she  had  gone. 

"I  hope  she'll  enjoy  it,  miserable  woman — if 
they  don't  cut  off:  her  head  too.-" 

And  then  a  kind  of  remorse  smote  him  for 
feeling  so  bitterly  toward  her,  after  all  the 
years  she  had  taken  care  of  him — grudgingly, 
perhaps,  and  coldly;  still  she  had  taken  care 
of  him,  and  that  even  to  the  last :  for,  as  I  have 
said,  all  his  four  rooms  were  as  tidy  as  possible, 
and  his  meals  laid  out,  that  he  might  have  no 
more  trouble  than  could  be  helped. 

"  Possibly  she  did  not  mean  to  be  cruel.  I 
won't  judge  her,'7  said  he.  And  afterward  he 
was  very  glad  that  he  had  so  determined. 

For  the  second  time  he  tried  to  dress  himself, 
and  then  to  do  everything  he  could  for  himself — 
even  to  sweeping  up  the  hearth  and  putting  on 
more  coals.  "It's  a  funny  thing  for  a  prince 
to  have  to"  do,"  said  he,  laughing.  "But  my 
godmother  once  said  princes  need  never  mind 
doing  any  thing.  "j 

And  then  he  thought  a  little  of  his  godmother. 
Not  of  summoning  her,  or  asking  her  to  help 
him, — she  had  evidently  left  him  to  help  him- 
self, and  he  was  determined  to  try  his  best  to 
do  it,  being  a  very  proud  and  independent  boy, 
— but  lie  remembered  her  tenderly  and  regret- 

[111] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

fully,  as  if  even  she  had  been  a  little  hard  upon 
him — poor,  forlorn  boy  that  he  was.  But  he 
seemed  to  have  seen  and  learned  so  much  with- 
in the  last  few  days  that  he  scarcely  felt  like 
a  boy,  but  a  man — until  he  went  to  bed  at  night. 

When  I  was  a  child,  I  used  often  to  think 
how  nice  it  would  be  to  live  in  a  little  house 
all  by  my  own  self — a  house  built  high  up  in 
a  tree,  or  far  away  in  a  forest,  or  halfway  up 
a  hillside — so  deliciously  alone  and  independ- 
ent. Not  a  lesson  to  learn — but  no!  I  always 
liked  learning  my  lessons.  Anyhow,  to  choose 
the  lessons  I  liked  best,  to  have  as  many  books 
to  read  and  dolls  to  play  with  as  ever  I  wanted : 
above  all,  to  be  free  and  at  rest,  with  nobody  to 
tease  or  trouble  or  scold  me,  would  be  charming. 
For  I  was  a  lonely  little  thing,  who  liked 
quietness — as  many  children  do;  which  other 
children,  and  sometimes  grown-up  people  even, 
cannot  understand.  And  so  I  can  understand 
Prince  Dolor. 

After  his  first  despair,  he  was  not  merely 
comfortable,  but  actually  happy  in  his  solitude, 
doing  everything  for  himself,  and  enjoying 
everything  by  himself — until  bedtime.  Then 
he  did  not  like  it  at  all.  No  more,  I  suppose, 
than  other  children  would  have  liked  my  im- 

[112] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

aginary  house  in  a  tree  when  they  had  had 
sufficient  of  their  own  company. 

But  the  Prince  had  to  bear  it — and  he  did 
bear  it,  like  a  prince — for  fully  five  days.  All 
that  time  he  got  up  in  the  morning  and  went  to 
bed  at  night  without  having  spoken  to  a 
creature,  or,  indeed,  heard  a  single  sound. 
For  even  his  little  lark  was  silent;  and  as  for 
his  traveling-cloak,  either  he  never  thought 
about  it,  or  else  it  had  been  spirited  away — 
for  he  made  no  use  of  it,  nor  attempted  to  do  so. 

A  very  strange  existence  it  was,  those  five 
lonely  days.  He  never  entirely  forgot  it.  It 
threw  him  back  upon  himself,  and  into  himself 
— in  a  way  that  all  of  us  have  to  learn  when  we 
grow  up,  and  are  the  better  for  it ;  but  it  is  some- 
what hard  learning. 

On  the  sixth  day  Prince  Dolor  had  a  strange 
composure  in  his  look,  but  he  was  very  grave 
and  thin  and  white.  He  had  nearly  come  to  the 
end  of  his  provisions — and  what  was  to  happen 
next?  Get  out  of  the  tower  he  could  not:  the 
ladder  the  deaf-mute  used  was  always  carried 
away  again;  and  if  it  had  not  been,  how  could 
the  poor  boy  have  used  it?  And  even  if  he 
slung  or  flung  himself  down,  and  by  miraculous 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

chance  came  alive  to  the  foot  of  the  tower,  how 
could  he  run  away? 

Fate  had  been  very  hard  to  him,  or  so  it 
seemed. 

He  made  up  his  mind  to  die.  Not  that  he 
wished  to  die;  on  the  contrary,  there  was  a 
great  deal  that  he  wished  to  live  to  do;  but  if 
he  must  die,  he  must.  Dying  did  not  seem  so 
very  dreadful;  not  even  to  lie  quiet  like  his 
uncle,  whom  he  had  entirely  forgiven  now,  and 
neither  be  miserable  nor  naughty  any  more,  and 
escape  all  those  horrible  things  that  he  had  seen 
going  on  outside  the  palace,  in  that  awful  place 
which  was  called  "the  world." 

"It's  a  great  deal  nicer  here,"  said  the  poor 
little  Prince,  and  collected  all  his  pretty  things 
round  him:  his  favorite  pictures,  which  he 
thought  he  should  like  to  have  near  him  when 
he  died;  his  books  and  toys — no,  he  had  ceased 
to  care  for  toys  now ;  he  only  liked  them  because 
he  had  done  so  as  a  child.  And  there  he  sat 
very  calm  and  patient,  like  a  king  in  his  castle, 
waiting  for  the  end. 

"Still,  I  wish  I  had  done  something  first — 
something  worth  doing,  that  somebody  might 
remember  me  by,"  thought  he.  "Suppose  I 
had  grown  a  man,  and  had  had  work  to  do,  and 

[114] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

people  to  care  -for,  and  was  so  useful  and  busy 
that  they  liked  me,  and  perhaps  even  forgot  I 
was  lame?  Then  it  would  have  been  nice  to 
live,  I  think." 

A  tear  came  into  the  little  fellow's  eyes,  and 
he  listened  intently  through  the  dead  silence 
for  some  hopeful  sound. 

Was  there  one? — was  it  his  little  lark,  whom 
he  had  almost  forgotten?  No,  nothing  half  so 
sweet.  But  it  really  was  something — something 
which  came  nearer  and  nearer,  so  that  there 
was  no  mistaking  it.  It  was  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet,  one  of  the  great  silver  trumpets  so 
admired  in  Nomansland.  Not  pleasant  music, 
but  very  bold,  grand,  and  inspiring. 

As  he  listened  to  it  the  boy  seemed  to  recall 
many  things  which  had  slipped  his  memory  for 
years,  and  to  nerve  himself  for  whatever  might 
be  going  to  happen. 

What  had  happened  was  this. 

The  poor  condemned  woman  had  not  been 
such  a  wicked  woman  after  all.  Perhaps  her 
courage  was  not  wholly  disinterested,  but  she 
had  done  a  very  heroic  thing.  As  soon  as  she 
heard  of  the  death  and  burial  of  the  King  and 
of  the  changes  that  were  taking  place  in  the 
country,  a  daring  idea  came  into  her  head — to 

[115] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

set  upon  the  throne  of  Nomansland  its  rightful 
heir.  Thereupon  she  persuaded  the  deaf-mute 
to  take  her  away  with  him,  and  they  galloped 
like  the  wind  from  city  to  city,  spreading  every- 
where the  news  that  Prince  Dolor's  death  and 
burial  had  been  an  invention  concocted  by  his 
wicked  uncle — that  he  was  alive  and  well,  and 
the  noblest  young  prince  that  ever  was  born. 

It  was  a  bold  stroke,  but  it  succeeded.  The 
country,  weary  perhaps  of  the  late  King's 
harsh  rule,  and  yet  glad  to  save  itself  from  the 
horrors  of  the  last  few  days,  and  the  still 
further  horrors  of  no  rule  at  all,  and  having  no 
particular  interest  in  the  other  young  princes, 
jumped  at  the  idea  of  this  Prince,  who  was  the 
son  of  their  late  good  King  and  the  beloved 
Queen  Dolorez. 

"Hurrah  for  Prince  Dolor!  Let  Prince 
Dolor  be  our  sovereign ! ' '  rang  from  end  to  end 
of  the  kingdom.  Everybody  tried  to  remember 
what  a  dear  baby  he  once  was — how  like  his 
mother,  who  had  been  so  sweet  and  kind,  and 
his  father,  the  finest-looking  king  that  ever 
reigned.  Nobody  remembered  his  lameness — 
or,  if  they  did,  they  passed  it  over  as  a  matter 
of  no  consequence.  They  were  determined  to 
have  him  reign  over  them,  boy  as  he  was — 

[116] 


"Hurrah  for  Prince  Dolor! 
Let  Prince  Dolor  be  our  sovereign!" 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

perhaps  just  because  lie  was  a  boy,  since  in  that 
case  the  great  nobles  thought  they  should  be 
able  to  do  as  they  liked  with  the  country. 

Accordingly,  with  a  fickleness  not  confined  to 
the  people  of  Nomansland,  no  sooner  was  the 
late  King  laid  in  his  grave  than  they  pro- 
nounced him  to  have  been  a  usurper;  turned 
all  his  family  out  of  the  palace,  and  left  it 
empty  for  the  reception  of  the  new  sovereign, 
whom  they  went  to  fetch  with  great  rejoicing, 
a  select  body  of  lords,  gentlemen,  and  soldiers 
traveling  night  and  day  in  solemn  procession 
through  the  country  until  they  reached  Hope- 
less Tower. 

There  they  found  the  Prince,  sitting  calmly 
on  the  floor— deadly  pale,  indeed,  for  he 
expected  a  quite  different  end  from  this,  and 
was  resolved,  if  he  had  to  die,  to  die  coura- 
geously, like  a  Prince  and  a  King. 

But  when  they  hailed  him  as  Prince  and 
King,  and  explained  to  him  how  matters  stood, 
and  went  down  on  their  knees  before  him, 
offering  the  crown  (on  a  velvet  cushion,  with 
four  golden  tassels,  each  nearly  as  big  as  his 
head), — small  though  he  was  and  lame,  which 
lameness  the  courtiers  pretended  not  to  notice, 
— there  came  such  a  glow  into  his  face,  such  a 

[117] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

dignity  into  his  demeanor,  that  he  became 
beautiful,  king-like. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "if  you  desire  it,  I  will  be 
your  king.  And  I  will  do  my  best  to  make  my 
people  happy ,a> 

Then  there  arose,  from  inside  and  outside 
the  tower,  such  a  shout  as  never  yet  was  heard 
across  the  lonely  plain. 

Prince  Dolor  shrank  a  little  from  the  deafen- 
ing sound.  "How  shall  I  be  able  to  rule  all  this 
great  people  ?  You  forget,  my  lords,  that  I  am 
only  a  little  boy  still." 

"Not  so  very  little,"  was  the  respectful 
answer.  "We  have  searched  in  the  records, 
and  found  that  your  Royal  Highness — your 
Majesty,  I  mean — is  fifteen  years  old." 

"Am  I?"  said  Prince  Dolor;  and  his  first 
thought  was  a  thoroughly  childish  pleasure 
that  he  should  now  have  a  birthday,  with  a 
whole  nation  to  keep  it.  Then  he  remembered 
that  his  childish  days  were  done.  He  was  a 
monarch  now.  Even  his  nurse,  to  whom,  the 
moment  he  saw  her,  he  had  held  out  his  hand, 
kissed  it  reverently,  and  called  him  ceremoni- 
ously "his  Majesty  the  King." 

"A  king  must  be  always  a  king,  I  suppose," 
said  he  half-sadly,  when,  the  ceremonies  over, 

[118] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

he  had  been  left  to  himself  for  just  ten  minutes, 
to  put  off  his  boy's  clothes  and  be  reattired  in 
magnificent  robes,  before  he  was  conveyed  away 
from  his  tower  to  the  royal  palace. 

He  could  take  nothing  with  him;  indeed,  he 
soon  saw  thatf  however  politely  they  spoke,  they 
would  not  allow  him  to  take  anything.  If  he 
was  to  be  their  king,  he  must  give  up  his  old  life 
forever.  So  he  looked  with  tender  farewell  on 
his  old  books,  old  toys,  the  furniture  he  knew  so 
well,  and  the  familiar  plain  in  all  its  level- 
ness — ugly  yet  pleasant,  simply  because  it  was 
familiar. 

"It  will  be  a  new  life  in  a  new  world, "  said  he 
to  himself;  "but  I'll  remember  the  old  things 
still.  And,  oh!  if  before  I  go  I  could  but  once 
see  my  dear  old  godmother. " 

While  he  spoke  he  had  laid  himself  down  on 
the  bed  for  a  minute  or  two,  rather  tired  with 
his  grandeur,  and  confused  by  the  noise  of  the 
trumpets  which  kept  playing  incessantly  down 
below.  He  gazed,  half  sadly,  up  to  the  skylight, 
whence  there  came  pouring  a  stream  of  sunrays, 
with  innumerable  motes  floating  there,  like  a 
bridge  thrown  between  heaven  and  earth.  Slid- 
ing down  it,  as  if  she  had  been  made  of  air,  came 
the  little  old  woman  in  gray. 

[1191 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

So  beautiful  looked  she — old  as  she  was — that 
Prince  Dolor  was  at  first  quite  startled  by  the 
apparition.  Then  he  held  out  his  arms  in  eager 
delight. 

"Oh,  godmother,  you  have  not  forsaken  me!" 

"Not  at  all,  my  son.  You  may  not  have  seen 
me,  but  I  have  seen  you  many  a  time." 

"How?" 

"Oh,  never  mind.  I  can  turn  into  anything 
I  please,  you  know.  And  I  have  been  a  bearskin 
rug,  and  a  crystal  goblet — and  sometimes  I  have 
changed  from  inanimate  to  animate  nature,  put 
on  feathers,  and  made  myself  very  comfortable 
as  a  bird." 

"Ha!"  laughed  the  prince,  a  new  light  break- 
ing in  upon  him  as  he  caught  the  infection  of 
her  tone,  lively  and  mischievous.  "Ha!  ha!  a 
lark,  for  instance?" 

"Or  a  magpie,"  answered  she,  with  a  capital 
imitation  of  Mistress  Mag's  croaky  voice.  "Do 
you  suppose  I  am  always  sentimental,  and  never 
funny  ?  If  anything  makes  you  happy,  gay,  or 
grave,  don't  you  think  it  is  more  than  likely  to 
come  through  your  old  godmother  ? ' ' 

"I  believe  that,"  said  the  boy  tenderly,  hold- 
ing out  his  arms.  They  clasped  one  another  in 
a  close  embrace. 

[120] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Suddenly  Prince  Dolor  looked  very  anxious. 
"You  will  not  leave  me  now  that  1  am  a  kingf 
Otherwise  I  had  rather  not  be  a  king  at  all. 
Promise  never  to  forsake  me!" 

The  little  old  woman  laughed  gayly.  "For- 
sake you?  that  is  impossible.  But  it  is  just 
possible  you  may  forsake  me.  Not  probable 
though.  Your  mother  never  did,  and  she  was 
a  queen.  The  sweetest  queen  in  all  the  world 
was  the  Lady  Dolorez.'-2 

"Tell  me  about  her,"  said  the  boy  eagerly. 
"As  I  get  older  1  think  I  can  understand  more. 
Do  tell  me." 

"Not  now.  You  couldn't  hear  me  for  the 
trumpets  and  the  shouting.  But  when  you  are 
come  to  the  palace,  ask  for  a  long-closed  upper 
room,  which  looks  out  upon  the  Beautiful 
Mountains;  open  it  and  take  it  for  your  own. 
Whenever  you  go  there  you  will  always  find  me, 
and  we  will  talk  together  about  all  sorts  of 
things. ' ' 

"And  about  my  mother?" 

The  little  old  woman  nodded — and  kept 
nodding  and  smiling  to  herself  many  times,  as 
the  boy  repeated  over  and  over  again  the  sweet 
words  he  had  never  known  or  understood — "my 
mother — my  mother." 

[121] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"Now  I  must  go,'3  said  she,  as  the  trumpets 
blared  louder  and  louder,  and  the  shouts  of  the 
people  showed  that  they  would  not  endure  any 
delay.  "Good-by,  good-by!  Open  the  window 
and  out  I  fly." 

Prince  Dolor  repeated  gayly  the  musical 
rhyme — but  all  the  while  tried  to  hold  his  god- 
mother fast. 

Yain,  vain!  for  the  moment  that  a  knocking 
was  heard  at  his  door  the  sun  went  behind  a 
cloud,  the  bright  stream  of  dancing  motes 
vanished,  and  the  little  old  woman  with  them — 
he  knew  not  where. 

So  Prince  Dolor  quitted  his  tower — which  he 
had  entered  so  mournfully  and  ignominiously  as 
a  little  helpless  baby  carried  in  the  deaf-mute's 
arms — quitted  it  as  the  great  King  of  Nomans- 
land. 

The  only  thing  he  took  away  with  him  was 
something  so  insignificant  that  none  of  the  lords, 
gentlemen,  and  soldiers  who  escorted  him  with 
such  triumphant  splendor  could  possibly  notice 
it — a  tiny  bundle,  which  he  had  found  lying  on 
the  floor  just  where  the  bridge  of  sunbeams  had 
rested.  At  once  he  had  pounced  upon  it,  and 
thrust  it  secretly  into  his  bosom,  where  it  dwin- 

[122] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

died  into  such  small  proportions  that  it  might 
have  been  taken  for  a  mere  chest-comforter,  a 
bit  of  flannel,  or  an  old  pocket-handkerchief. 
It  was  his  traveling-cloak ! 


[123T 


CHAPTER  X 

DID  Prince  Dolar  become  a  great  king ? 
Was  he,  though  little  more  than  a 
boy,  "the  father  of  his  people, "  as  all 
kings  ought  to  be?     Did  his  reign 
last  long — long  and  happy?  and  what  were  the 
principal  events   of  it,   as   chronicled  in   the 
history  of  Nomansland? 

Why,  if  I  were  to  answer  all  these  questions 
I  should  have  to  write  another  book.  And  I'm 
tired,  children;  tired — as  grown-up  people  some- 
times are,  though  not  always  with  play. 
(Besides,  I  have  a  small  person  belonging  to  me, 
who,  though  she  likes  extremely  to  listen  to  the 
word-of-mouth  story  of  this  book,  grumbles 
much  at  the  writing  of  it,  ancl  has  run  about  the 
house  clapping  her  hands  with  joy  when  mamma 
told  her  that  it  was  nearly  finished.  But  that 
is  neither  here  nor  there.) 

I  have  related  as  well  as  I  could  the  history  of 
Prince  Dolor,  but  with  the  history  of  Nomans- 
land I  am  as  yet  unacquainted.  If  anybody 
knows  it,  perhaps  he  or  she  will  kindly  write  it 
all  down  in  another  book.  But  mine  is  done. 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

However,  of  this  I  am  sure,  that  Prince  Dolor 
made  an  excellent  king.  Nobody  ever  does  any- 
thing less  well,  not  even  the  commonest  duty  of 
common  daily  life,  for  having  such  a  godmother 
as  the  little  old  woman  clothed  in  gray,  whose 
name  is — well,  I  leave  you  to  guess.  Nor,  I 
think,  is  anybody  less  good,  less  capable  of  both 
work  and  enjoyment  in  after-life,  for  having 
been  a  little  unhappy  in  his  youth,  as  the  prince 
had  been. 

I  cannot  take  upon  myself  to  say  that  he  was 
always  happy  now — who  is  ? — or  that  he  had  no 
cares ;  just  show  me  the  person  who  is  quite  free 
from  them!  But  whenever  people  worried  and 
bothered  him — as  they  did  sometimes,  with  state 
etiquette,  state  squabbles,  and  the  like,  setting 
up  themselves  and  pulling  down  their  neigh- 
bors— he  would  take  refuge  in  that  upper  room 
which  looked  out  on  the  Beautiful  Mountains, 
and,  laying  his  head  on  his  godmother's  shoulder, 
become  calmed  and  at  rest. 

Also,  she  helped  him  out  of  any  difficulty 
which  now  and  then  occurred — for  there  never 
was  such  a  wise  old  woman.  When  the  people 
of  Nomansland  raised  the  alarm — as  sometimes 
they  did — for  -what  people  can  exist  without  a 
little  fault-finding? — and  began  to  cry  out,  "Un- 

[125] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

happy  is  the  nation  whose  king  is  a  child,"  she 
would  say  to  him  gently,  "You  are  a  child. 
Accept  the  fact.  Be  humble — be  teachable. 
Lean  upon  the  wisdom  of  others  till  you  have 
gained  your  own. ' ' 

He  did  so.  He  learned  how  to  take  advice 
before  attempting  to  give  it,  to  obey  before  he 
could  righteously  command.  He  assembled 
round  him  all  the  good  and  wise  of  his  kingdom 
—laid  all  its  affairs  before  them,  and  was  guided 
by  their  opinions  until  he  had  maturely  formed 
his  own. 

This  he  did  sooner  than  anybody  would  have 
imagined  who  did  not  know  of  his  godmother 
and  his  traveling-cloak — two  secret  blessings, 
which,  though  many  guessed  at,  nobody  quite 
understood.  Nor  did  they  understand  why  he 
loved  so  the  little  upper  room,  except  that  it  had 
been  his  mother's  room,  from  the  window  of 
which,  as  people  remembered  now,  she  had  used 
to  sit  for  hours  watching  the  Beautiful  Moun- 
tains. 

Out  of  that  window  he  used  to  fly — not  very 
often ;  as  he  grew  older,  the  labors  of  state  pre- 
vented the  frequent  use  of  his  traveling-cloak; 
still  he  did  use  it  sometimes.  Only  now  it  was 
less  for  his  own  pleasure  and  amusement  than 

[1261 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

to  see  something  or  investigate  something  for 
the  good  of  the  country.  But  he  prized  his 
godmother's  gift  as  dearly  as  ever.  It  was  a 
comfort  to  him  in  all  his  vexations,  an  enhance- 
ment of  all  his  joys.  It  made  him  almost  forget 
his  lameness — which  was  never  cured. 

However,  the  cruel  things  which  had  been  once 
foreboded  of  him  did  not  happen.  His  mis- 
fortune was  not  such  a  heavy  one,  after  all.  It 
proved  to  be  of  much  less  inconvenience,  even  to 
himself,  than  had  been  feared.  A  council  of 
eminent  surgeons  and  mechanicians  invented 
for  him  a  wonderful  pair  of  crutches,  with  the 
help  of  which,  though  he  never  walked  easily  or 
gracefully,  he  did  manage  to  walk  so  as  to  be 
quite  independent.  And  such  was  the  love  his 
people  bore  him  that  they  never  heard  the  sound 
of  his  crutches  on  the  marble  palace  floors  with- 
out a  leap  of  the  heart,  for  they  knew  that  good 
was  coming  to  them  whenever  he  approached. 

Thus,  though  he  never  walked  in  processions, 
never  reviewed  his  troops  mounted  on  a  mag- 
nificent charger,  nor  did  any  of  the  things  which 
make  a  show  monarch  so  much  appreciated,  he 
was  able  for  all  the  duties  and  a  great  many  of 
the  pleasures  of  his  rank.  When  he  held  his 
levees,  not  standing,  but  seated  on  a  throne  in- 

[1271 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

geniously  contrived  to  hide  his  infirmity,  the 
people  thronged  to  greet  him ;  when  he  drove  out 
through  the  city  streets,  shouts  followed  him 
wherever  he  went — every  countenance  bright- 
ened as  he  passed,  and  his  own,  perhaps,  was  the 
brightest  of  all. 

First,  because,  accepting  his  affliction  as  in- 
evitable, he  took  it  patiently;  second,  because, 
being  a  brave  man,  he  bore  it  bravely,  trying  to 
forget  himself,  and  live  out  of  himself,  and  in 
and  for  other  people.  Therefore  other  people 
grew  to  love  him  so  well  that  I  think  hundreds 
of  his  subjects  might  have  been  found  who  were 
almost  ready  to  die  for  their  poor  lame  king. 

He  never  gave  them  a  queen.  When  they  im- 
plored him  to  choose  one,  he  replied  that  his 
country  was  his  bride,  and  he  desired  no  other. 
But  perhaps  the  real  reason  was  that  he  shrank 
from  any  change ;  and  that  no  wife  in  all  the 
world  would  have  been  found  so  perfect,  so 
lovable,  so  tender  to  him  in  all  his  weaknesses  as 
his  beautiful  old  godmother. 

His  twenty-four  other  godfathers  and  god- 
mothers, or  as  many  of  them  as  were  still  alive, 
crowded  round  him  as  soon  as  he  ascended  the 
throne.  He  was  very  civil  to  them  all,  but 
adopted  none  of  the  names  they  had  given  him, 

[128] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

keeping  to  the  one  by  which  he  had  been  always 
known,  though  it  had  now  almost  lost  its  mean- 
ing ;  for  King  Dolor  was  one  of  the  happiest  and 
cheerfulest  men  alive. 

He  did  a  good  many  things,  however,  unlike 
most  men  and  most  kings,  which  a  little  as- 
tonished his  subjects.  First,  he  pardoned  the 
condemned  woman  who  had  been  his  nurse,  and 
ordained  that  from  henceforth  there  should  be 
no  such  thing  as  the  punishment  of  death  in 
Nomansland.  All  capital  criminals  were  to  be 
sent  to  perpetual  imprisonment  in  Hopeless 
Tower  and  the  plain  round  about  it,  where  they 
could  do  no  harm  to  anybody,  and  might  in  time 
do  a  little  good,  as  the  woman  had  done. 

Another  surprise  he  shortly  afterward  gave 
the  nation.  He  recalled  his  uncle's  family,  who 
had  fled  away  in  terror  to  another  country,  and 
restored  them  to  all  their  honors  in  their  own. 
By  and  by  he  chose  the  eldest  son  of  his  eldest 
cousin  (who  had  been  dead  a  year),  and  had  him 
educated  in  the  royal  palace,  as  the  heir  to  the 
throne.  This  little  prince  was  a  quiet,  un- 
obtrusive boy,  so  that  everybody  wondered  at 
the  King's  choosing  him  when  there  were  so 
many  more;  but  as  he  grew  into  a  fine  young 

[129] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

fellow,  good  and  brave,  they  agreed  that  the 
King  judged  more  wisely  than  they. 

"Not  a  lame  prince,  either,"  his  Majesty  ob- 
served one  day,  watching  him  affectionately ;  for 
he  was  the  best  runner,  the  highest  leaper,  the 
keenest  and  most  active  sportsman  in  the 
country.  "One  cannot  make  one's  self,  but  one 
can.  sometimes  help  a  little  in  the  making  of 
somebody  else.  It  is  well." 

This  was  said,  not  to  any  of  his  great  lords 
and  ladies,  but  to  a  good  old  woman — his  first 
homely  nurse — whom  he  had  sought  for  far  and 
wide,  and  at  last  found  in  her  cottage  among 
the  Beautiful  Mountains.  He  sent  for  her  to 
visit  him  once  a  year,  and  treated  her  with  great 
honor  until  she  died.  He  was  equally  kind, 
though  somewhat  less  tender,  to  his  other  nurse, 
who,  after  receiving  her  pardon,  returned  to 
her  native  town  and  grew  into  a  great  lady,  and 
I  hope  a  good  one.  But  as  she  was  so  grand  a 
personage  now,  any  little  faults  she  had  did  not 
show. 

Thus  King  Dolor's  reign  passed  year  after 
year,  long  and  prosperous.  Whether  he  were 
happy — "as  happy  as  a  king" — is  a  question  no 
human  being  can  decide.  But  I  think  he  was, 
because  he  had  the  power  of  making  everybody 

[1301 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

about  him  happy,  and  did  it  too ;  also  because  he 
was  his  godmother's  godson,  and  could  shut  him- 
self up  with  her  whenever  he  liked,  in  that  quiet 
little  room  in  view  of  the  Beautiful  Mountains, 
which  nobody  else  ever  saw  or  cared  to  see.  They 
were  too  far  off,  and  the  city  lay  so  low.  But 
there  they  were,  all  the  time.  No  change  ever 
came  to  them ;  and  I  think,  at  any  day  through- 
out his  long  reign,  the  King  would  sooner  have 
lost  his  crown  than  have  lost  sight  of  the  Beauti- 
ful Mountains. 

In  course  of  time,  when  the  little  Prince,  his 
cousin,  was  grown  into  a  tall  young  man,  capable 
of  all  the  duties  of  a  man,  his  Majesty  did  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  acts  ever  known  in  a 
sovereign  beloved  by  his  people  and  prosperous 
in  his  reign.  He  announced  that  he  wished  to 
invest  his  heir  with  the  royal  purple — at  any 
rate,  for  a  time — while  he  himself  went  away  on 
a  distant  journey,  whither  he  had  long  desired 
to  go. 

Everybody  marveled,  but  nobody  opposed 
him.  Who  could  oppose  the  good  King,  who 
was  not  a  young  king  now?  And  besides,  the 
nation  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  young 
regent — and  possibly  a  lurking  pleasure  in 
change. 

[131] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

So  there  was  a  fixed  day  when  all  the  people 
whom  it  would  hold  assembled  in  the  great 
square  of  the  capital,  to  see  the  young  prince 
installed  solemnly  in  his  new  duties,  and  under- 
taking his  new  vows.  He  was  a  very  fine  young 
fellow ;  tall  and  straight  as  a  poplar  tree,  with  a 
frank,  handsome  face — a  great  deal  handsomer 
than  the  king,  some  people  said,  but  others 
thought  differently.  However,  as  his  Majesty 
sat  on  his  throne,  with  his  gray  hair  falling  from 
underneath  his  crown,  and  a  few  wrinkles  show- 
ing in  spite  of  his  smile,  there  was  something 
about  his  countenance  which  made  his  people, 
even  while  they  shouted,  regard  him  with  a 
tenderness  mixed  with  awe. 

He  lifted  up  his  thin,  slender  hand,  and  there 
came  a  silence  over  the  vast  crowd  immediately. 
Then  he  spoke,  in  his  own  accustomed  way,  using 
no  grand  words,  but  saying  what  he  had  to  say  in 
the  simplest  fashion,  though  with  a  clearness 
that  struck  their  ears  like  the  first  song  of  a  bird 
in  the  dusk  of  the  morning. 

"My  people,  I  am  tired:  I  want  to  rest.  I 
have  had  a  long  reign,  and  done  much  work — at 
least?  as  much  as  I  was  able  to  do.  Many  might 
have  done  it  better  than  I — but  none  with  a 

[1321 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

better  will.  Now  I  leave  it  to  others ;  I  am  tired, 
very  tired.  Let  me  go  home." 

There  arose  a  murmur — of  content  or  dis- 
content none  could  well  tell;  then  it  died  down 
again,  and  the  assembly  listened  silently  once 
more. 

"I  am  not  anxious  about  you,  my  people — my 
children,"  continued  the  King.  "You  are 
prosperous  and  at  peace.  I  leave  you  in  good 
hands.  The  Prince  Eegent  will  be  a  fitter  king 
for  you  than  I. ' ' 

"No,  no,  no!"  rose  the  universal  shout — and 
those  who  had  sometimes  found  fault  with  him 
shouted  louder  than  anybody.  But  he  seemed 
as  if  he  heard  them  not. 

"Yes,  yes/'  said  he,  as  soon  as  the  tumult  had 
a  little  subsided :  and  his  voice  sounded  firm  and 
clear ;  and  some  very  old  people,  who  boasted  of 
having  seen  him  as  a  child,  declared  that  his  face 
took  a  sudden  change,  and  grew  as  young  and 
sweet  as  that  of  the  little  Prince  Dolor.  "Yes, 
I  must  go.  It  is  time  for  me  to  go.  Remember 
me  sometimes,  my  people,  for  I  have  loved  you 
well.  And  I  am  going  a  long  way,  and  I  do  not 
think  I  shall  come  back  any  more. ' J 

He  drew  a  little  bundle  out  of  his  breast 
pocket — a  bundle  that  nobody  had  ever  seen 

[133] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

before.  It  was  small  and  shabby-looking,  and 
tied  up  with  many  knots,  which  untied  them- 
selves in  an  instant.  With  a  joyful  countenance, 
he  muttered  over  it  a  few  half -intelligible  words. 
Then,  so  suddenly  that  even  those  nearest  to  his 
Majesty  could  not  tell  how  it  came  about,  the 
King  was  away — away — floating  right  up  in  the 
air — upon  something,  they  knew  not  what,  ex- 
cept that  it  appeared  to  be  as  safe  and  pleasant 
as  the  wings  of  a  bird. 

And  after  him  sprang  a  bird — a  dear  little 
lark,  rising  from  whence  no  one  could  say,  since 
larks  do  not  usually  build  their  nests  in  the 
pavement  of  city  squares.  But  there  it  was,  a 
real  lark,  singing  far  over  their  heads,  louder 
and  clearer  and  more  joyful  as  it  vanished 
further  into  the  blue  sky. 

Shading  their  eyes,  and  straining  their  ears, 
the  astonished  people  stood  until  the  whole 
vision  disappeared  like  a  speck  in  the  clouds — 
the  rosy  clouds  that  overhung  the  Beautiful 
Mountains. 

King  Dolor  was  never  again  beheld  or  heard 
of  in  his  own  country.  But  the  good  he  had  done 
there  lasted  for  years  and  years;  he  was  long 
missed  and  deeply  mourned — at  least,  so  far  as 

[134] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

anybody  could  mourn  one  who  was  gone  on  such 
a  happy  journey. 

Whither  he  went,  or  who  went  with  him,  it  is 
impossible  to  say.  But  I  myself  believe  that  his 
godmother  took  him  on  his  traveling-cloak  to  the 
Beautiful  Mountains.  What  he  did  there,  or 
where  he  is  now,  who  can  tell  ?  I  cannot.  But 
one  thing  I  am  quite  sure  of,  that,  wherever  he 
is,  he  is  perfectly  happy. 

,And  so,  when  I  think  of  him,  am  L 


P35] 


1 


"\HERE  were  a  king  and  queen  who  were 
dotingly  fond  of  their  only  son,  notwith- 
standing that  he  was  equally  deformed 
in  mind  and  person.  The  king  was  quite 
sensible  of  the  evil  disposition  of  his  son,  but  the 
queen  in  her  excessive  fondness  saw  no  fault 
whatever  in  her  dear  Furibon,  as  he  was  named. 
The  surest  way  to  win  her  favor  was  to  praise 
Furibon  for  charms  he  did  not  possess.  When  he 
came  of  age  to  have  a  governor,  the  king  made 
choice  of  a  prince  who  had  an  ancient  right  to  the 
crown,  but  was  not  able  to  support  it.  This 
prince  had  a  son,  named  Leander,  handsome,  ac- 
complished, amiable — in  every  respect  the  opposite 
of  Prince  Furibon.  The  two  were  frequently 
together,  which  only  made  the  deformed  prince 
more  repulsive. 

One  day,  certain  ambassadors  having  arrived 
from  a  far  country,  the  prince  stood  in  a  gallery 
to  see  them;  when,  taking  Leander  for  the  king's 
son,  they  made  their  obeisance  to  him,  treating 

[136] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Furibon  as  a  mere  dwarf,  at  which  the  latter 
was  so  offended  that  he  drew  his  sword,  and 
would  have  done  them  a  mischief  had  not  the 
king  just  then  appeared.  As  it  was,  the  affair 
produced  a  quarrel,  which  ended  in  Leander 's 
being  sent  to  a  far-away  castle  belonging  to  his 
father. 

There,  however,  he  was  quite  happy,  for  he- 
was  a  great  lover  of  hunting,  fishing,  and  walk- 
ing:  he  understood  painting,  read  much,  and 
played  upon  several  instruments,  so  that  he  was 
glad  to  be  freed  from  the  fantastic  humors  of 
Furibon.  One  day  as  he  was  walking  in  the 
garden,  finding  the  heat  increase,  he  retired 
into  a  shady  grove  and  began  to  play  upon  the 
flute  to  amuse  himself.  As  he  played,  he  felt 
something  wind  about  his  leg,  and  looking  down 
saw  a  great  adder:  he  took  his  handkerchief,, 
and  catching  it  by  the  head  was  going  to  kill  it. 
But  the  adder,  looking  steadfastly  in  his  face, 
seemed  to  beg  his  pardon.  At  this  instant  one 
of  the  gardeners  happened  to  come  to  the  place 
where  Leander  was,  and  spying  the  snake,  cried 
out  to  his  master:  "Hold  him  fast,  sir;  it  is  but 
an  hour  since  we  ran  after  him  to  kill  him :  it  is 
the  most  mischievous  creature  in  the  world." 

Leander,  casting  his  eyes  a  second  time  upon 

[1371 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  snake,  which  was  speckled  with  a  thousand 
extraordinary  colors,  perceived  the  poor  crea- 
ture still  looked  upon  him  with  an  aspect  that 
seemed  to  implore  compassion,  and  never  tried 
in  the  least  to  defend  itself. 

"  Though  thou  hast  such  a  mind  to  kill  it,rs> 
said  he  to  the  gardener,  "yet,  as  it  came  to  me 
for  refuge,  I  forbid  thee  to  do  it  any  harm ;  for 
I  will  keep  it,  and  when  it  has  cast  its  beautiful 
skin  I  will  let  it  go."  He  then  returned  home, 
and  carrying  the  snake  with  him,  put  it  into  a 
large  chamber,  the  key  of  which  he  kept  himself, 
and  ordered  bran,  milk,  and  flowers  to  be  given 
to  it,  for  its  delight  and  sustenance;  so  that 
never  was  snake  so  happy.  Leander  went  some- 
times to  see  it,  and  when  it  perceived  him  it 
made  haste  to  meet  him,  showing  him  all  the 
little  marks  of  love  and  gratitude  of  which  a 
poor  snake  was  capable,  which  did  not  a  little 
surprise  him,  though  he  took  no  further  notice 
of  it. 

In  the  meantime  all  the  court  ladies  were  ex- 
tremely troubled  at  his  absence,  and  he  was  the 
subject  of  all  their  discourse.  "Alas!"  cried 
they,  "there  is  no  pleasure  at  court  since 
Leander  is  gone,  of  whose  absence  the  wicked 
Furibon  is  the  cause!"  Furibon  also  had  his 

[138] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

parasites,  for  his  power  over  the  queen  made 
him  feared ;  they  told  him  what  the  ladies  said, 
which  enraged  him  to  such  a  degree  that  in  his 
passion  he  flew  to  the  queen's  chamber,  and 
vowed  he  would  kill  himself  before  her  face  if 
she  did  not  find  means  to  destroy  Leander.  The 
queen,  who  also  hated  Leander,  because  he  was 
handsomer  than  her  son,  replied  that  she  had 
long  looked  upon  him  as  a  traitor,  and  therefore 
would  willingly  consent  to  his  death.  To  which 
purpose  she  advised  Furibon  to  go  a-hunting 
with  some  of  his  confidants,  and  contrive  it  so 
that  Leander  should  make  one  of  the  party. 

4 'Then,"  said  she,  "you  may  find  some  way  to 
punish  him  for  pleasing  everybody." 

Furibon  understood  her,  and  accordingly 
went  a-hunting ;  and  Leander,  when  he  heard  the 
horns  and  the  hounds,  mounted  his  horse  and 
rode  to  see  who  it  was.  But  he  was  surprised  to 
meet  the  prince  so  unexpectedly;  he  alighted 
immediately  and  saluted  him  with  respect ;  and 
Furibon  received  him  more  graciously  than 
usual  and  bade  follow  him.  All  of  a  sudden 
he  turned  his  horse  and  rode  another  way, 
making  a  sign  to  the  ruffians  to  take  the 
first  opportunity  to  kill  him ;  but  before  he  had 
got  quite  out  of  sight,  a  lion  of  prodigious  size, 

[139] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

coming  out  of  his  den,  leaped  upon  Furibon ;  all 
his  followers  fled,  and  only  Leander  remained; 
who,  attacking  the  animal  sword  in  hand,  by  his 
valor  and  agility  saved  the  life  of  his  most  cruel 
enemy,  who  had  fallen  in  a  swoon  from  fear. 
When  he  recovered,  Leander  presented  him  his 
horse  to  remount.  Now,  any  other  than  such  a 
wretch  would  have  been  grateful,  but  Furibon 
did  not  even  look  upon  him ;  nay,  mounting  the 
horse,  he  rode  in  quest  of  the  ruffians,  to  whom 
he  repeated  his  orders  to  kill  him.  They  ac- 
cordingly surrounded  Leander,  "who,  setting  his 
back  to  a  tree,  behaved  with  so  much  bravery 
that  he  laid  them  all  dead  at  his  feet.  Furibon, 
believing  him  by  this  time  slain,  rode  eagerly  up 
to  the  spot.  "When  Leander  saw  him  he  ad- 
vanced to  meet  him.  "Sir,"  said  he,  "if  it  was 
by  your  order  that  these  assassins  came  to  kill 
me,  I  am  sorry  I  made  any  defense. " 

"You  are  an  insolent  villain!"  replied  Furi- 
bon, "and  if  ever  you  come  into  my  presence 
again,  you  shall  surely  die." 

Leander  made  no  answer,  but  retired  sad  and 
pensive  to  his  own  home,  where  he  spent  the 
night  in  pondering  what  was  best  for  him  to  do ; 
for  there  was  no  likelihood  he  should  be  able  to 
defend  himself  against  the  power  of  the  king's 

[1401 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

son ;  therefore  lie  at  length  concluded  he  would 
travel  abroad  and  see  the  world.  Being  ready 
to  depart,  he  recollected  his  snake,  and,  calling 
for  some  milk  and  fruits,  carried  them  to  the 
poor  creature  for  the  last  time ;  but  on  opening 
the  door  he  perceived  an  extraordinary  luster  in 
one  corner  of  the  room,  and  casting  his  eye  on 
the  place  he  was  surprised  to  see  a  lady,  whose 
noble  and  majestic  air  made  him  immediately 
conclude  she  was  a  princess  of  royal  birth.  Her 
habit  was  of  purple  satin,  embroidered  with 
pearls  and  diamonds ;  she  advanced  toward  him 
with  a  gracious  smile. 

"Young  prince,"  said  she,  "you  find  no  longer 
your  pet  snake,  but  me,  the  fairy  Gentilla,  ready 
to  requite  your  generosity.  For  know  that  we 
fairies  live  a  hundred  years  in  flourishing  youth, 
without  diseases,  without  trouble  or  pain;  and 
this  term  being  expired,  we  become  snakes  for 
eight  days.  During  that  time  it  is  not  in  our 
power  to  prevent  any  misfortune  that  may  befall 
us ;  and  if  we  happen  to  be  killed,  we  never  re- 
vive again.  But  these  eight  days  being  expired, 
we  resume  our  usual  form  and  recover  our 
beauty,  our  power,  and  our  riches.  Now  you 
know  how  much  I  am  obliged  to  your  goodness, 
and  it  is  but  just  that  I  should  repay  my  debt 

[141] 


of  gratitude ;  think  how  I  can  serve  you  and  de- 
pend on  me.'' 

The  young  prince,  who  had  never  conversed 
with  a  fairy  till  now,  was  so  surprised  that  it 
was  a  long  time  before  he  could  speak.  But 
at  length,  making  a  profound  reverence, 
" Madam,"  said  he,  " since  I  have  had  the  honor 
to  serve  you,  I  know  not  any  other  happiness 
that  I  can  wish  for/'' 

"I  should  be  sorry,"  replied  she,  "not  to  be 
of  service  to  you  in  something ;  consider,  it  is  in 
my  power  to  bestow  on  you  long  life,  kingdoms, 
riches;  to  give  you  mines  of  diamonds  and 
houses  full  of  gold ;  I  can  make  you  an  excellent 
orator,  poet,  musician,  and  painter;  or,  if  you 
desire  it,  a  spirit  of  the  air,  the  water,  or  the 
earth." 

Here  Leander  interrupted  her.  "Permit  me, 
madam,"  said  he,  "to  ask  you  what  benefit  it 
would  be  to  me  to  be  a  spirit?" 

"Much,"  replied  the  fairy,  "you  would  be  in- 
visible when  you  pleased,  and  might  in  an  in- 
stant traverse  the  whole  earth;  you  would  be 
able  to  fly  without  wings,  to  descend  into  the 
abyss  of  the  earth  without  dying,  and  walk  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  without  being  drowned; 
nor  doors,  nor  windows,  though  fast  shut  and 

[142] 


JDOROTHY     TODK 


'WJien  you  put  on  the  cap  you  shaft  be  invisible;  but  wJien 
you  take  it  off  you  shall  again  become  vi-sible." 


(920) 


she  took  him  for  a  real  statue. 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

locked,  could  hinder  you  from  entering  any- 
where ;  and  whenever  you  had  a  mind,  you  might 
resume  your  natural  form." 

' 'Oh,  madam!"  cried  Leander,  "then  let  me 
be  a  spirit ;  I  am  going  to  travel,  and  should  pre- 
fer it  above  all  those  other  advantages  you  have 
so  generously  offered  me.'? 

Gentilla  thereupon  stroking  his  face  three 
times,  "Be  a  spirit,"  said  she;  and  then,  em- 
bracing him,  she  gave  him  a  little  red  cap  with  a 
plume  of  feathers.  "When  you  put  on  this  cap 
you  shall  be  invisible;  but  when  you  take  it  off 
you  shall  again  become  visible." 

Leander,  overjoyed,  put  his  little  red  cap 
upon  his  head  and  wished  himself  in  the  forest, 
that  he  might  gather  some  wild  roses  which  he 
had  observed  there:  his  body  immediately  be- 
came as  light  as  thought;  he  flew  through  the 
window  like  a  bird;  though,  in  flying  over  the 
river,  he  was  not  without  fear  lest  he  should  fall 
into  it,  and  the  power  of  the  fairy  not  be  able  to 
save  him.  But  he  arrived  in  safety  at  the  rose- 
bushes, plucked  the  three  roses,  and  returned 
immediately  to  his  chamber ;  presented  his  roses 
to  the  fairy,  overjoyed  that  his  first  experi- 
ments had  succeeded  so  well.  She  bade  him  keep 
the  roses,  for  that  one  of  them  would  supply 

[143] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

him  with  money  whenever  he  wanted  it;  that 
if  he  put  the  other  into  his  mistress'  bosom, 
he  would  know  whether  she  was  faithful  or  not ; 
and  that  the  third  would  keep  him  always  in 
good  health.  Then,  without  staying  to  receive 
his  thanks,  she  wished  him  success  in  his  travels 
and  disappeared. 

Leander,  infinitely  pleased,  settled  his  affairs, 
mounted  the  finest  horse  in  the  stable,  called 
Gris-de-line,  and  attended  by  some  of  his  ser- 
vants in  livery,  made  his  return  to  court.  Now 
you  must  know  Furibon  had  given  out  that  had 
it  not  been  for  his  courage  Leander  would  have 
murdered  him  when  they  were  a-hunting ;  so  the 
king,  being  importuned  by  the  queen,  gave  orders 
that  Leander  should  be  apprehended.  But  when 
he  came,  he  showed  so  much  courage  and  resolu- 
tion that  Furibon  ran  to  the  queen's  chamber 
and  prayed  her  to  order  him  to  be  seized.  The 
queen,  who  was  extremely  diligent  in  everything 
that  her  son  desired,  went  immediately  to  the 
king.  Furibon,  being  impatient  to  know  what 
would  be  resolved,  followed  her ;  but  stopped  at 
the  door  and  laid  his  ear  to  the  keyhole,  putting 
his  hair  aside  that  he  might  the  better  hear  what 
was  said.  At  the  same  time,  Leander  entered  the 
court-hall  of  the  palace  with  his  red  cap  upon 

[144] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

his  head,  and  perceiving  Furibon  listening  at 
the  door  of  the  king's  chamber,  he  took  a  nail  and 
a  hammer  and  nailed  his  ear  to  the  door.  Furi- 
bon  began,  to  roar,  so  that  the  queen,  hearing 
her  son's  voice,  ran  and  opened  the  door,  and, 
pulling  it  hastily,  tore  her  son's  ear  from  his 
head.  Half  out  of  her  wits,  she  set  him  in  her 
lap,  took  up  his  ear,  kissed  it,  and  clapped  it 
again  upon  its  place ;  but  the  invisible  Leander, 
seizing  upon  a  handful  of  twigs,  with  which  they 
corrected  the  king's  little  dogs,  gave  the  queen 
several  lashes  upon  her  hands,  and  her  son  as 
many  on  the  nose:  upon  which  the  queen  cried 
out,  " Murder!  murder!"  and  the  king  looked 
about,  and  the  people  came  running  in;  but 
nothing  was  to  be  seen.  Some  cried  that  the 
queen  was  mad,  and  that  her  madness  proceeded 
from  her  grief  to  see  that  her  son  had  lost  one 
ear ;  and  the  king  was  as  ready  as  any  to  believe 
it,  so  that  when  she  came  near  him  he  avoided 
her,  which  made  a  very  ridiculous  scene.  Lean- 
der, then  leaving  the  chamber,  went  into  the 
garden,  and  there,  assuming  his  own  shape,  he 
boldly  began  to  pluck  the  queen's  cherries,  apri- 
cots, strawberries,  and  flowers,  though  he  knew 
she  set  such  a  high  value  on  them  that  it  was  as 
much  as  a  man's  life  was  worth  to  touch  one. 

[145] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

The  gardeners,  all  amazed,  came  and  told  their 
majesties  that  Prince  Leander  was  making 
havoc  of  all  the  fruits  and  flowers  in  the  queen's 
garden. 

"What  insolence!"  said  the  queen:  then  turn- 
ing to  Furibon,  "my  pretty  child,  forget  the 
pain  of  thy  ear  but  for  a  moment,  and  fetch  that 
vile  wretch  hither;  take  our  guards,  both -horse 
and  foot,  seize  him,  and  punish  him  as  he 
deserves." 

Furibon,  encouraged  by  his  mother,  and 
attended  by  a  great  number  of  armed  soldiers, 
entered  the  garden  and  saw  Leander ;  who,  tak- 
ing refuge  under  a  tree,  pelted  them  all  with 
oranges.  But  when  they  came  running  toward 
him,  thinking  to  have  seized  him,  he  was  not  to 
be  seen ;  he  had  slipped  behind  Furibon,  who  was 
in  a  bad  condition  already.  But  Leander  played 
him  one  trick  more;  for  he  pushed  him  down 
upon  the  gravel  walk,  and  frightened  him  so 
that  the  soldiers  had  to  take  him  up,  carry  him 
away,  and  put  him  to  bed. 

Satisfied  with  this  revenge,  he  returned  to 
his  servants,  who  waited  for  him,  and  giving 
them  money,  sent  them  back  to  his  castle,  that 
none  might  know  the  secret  of  his  red  cap  and 
roses.  As  yet  he  had  not  determined  whither 

[146] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

to  go ;  however,  lie  mounted  his  fine  horse  Gris- 
de-line,  and,  laying  the  reins  upon  his  neck, 
let  him  take  his  own  road :  at  length  he  arrived 
in  a  forest,  where  he  stopped  to  shelter  himself 
from  the  heat.  He  had  not  been  above  a  minute 
there  before  he  heard  a  lamentable  noise  of 
sighing  and  sobbing;  and  looking  about  him, 
beheld  a  man,  who  ran,  stopped,  then  ran  again, 
sometimes  crying,  sometimes  silent,  then  tearing 
his  hair,  then  thumping  his  breast  like  some  un- 
fortunate madman.  Yet  he  seemed  to  be  both 
handsome  and  young:  his  garments  had  been 
magnificent,  but  he  had  torn  them  all  to  tatters. 
The  prince,  moved  with  compassion,  made  to- 
ward him,  and  mildly  accosted  him.  *  *  Sir, J '  said 
he,  "your  condition  appears  so  deplorable  that  I 
must  ask  the  cause  of  your  sorrow,  assuring  you 
of  every  assistance  in  my  power." 

"Oh,  sir,"  answered  the  young  man,  " nothing 
can  cure  my  grief ;  this  day  my  dear  mistress  is 
to  be  sacrificed  to  a  rich  old  ruffian  of  a  hus- 
band who  will  make  her  miserable. "' 

"Does  she  love  you,  then?"  asked  Leander. 

"I  flatter  myself  so,"  answered  the  young 
man. 

"Where  is  she?"  continued  Leander. 
[147] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"In  the  castle  at  the  end  of  this  forest," 
replied  the  lover. 

"Very  well,"  said  Leander;  "stay  you  here 
till  I  come  again,  and  in  a  little  while  I  will 
bring  you  good  news." 

He  then  put  on  his  little  red  cap  and  wished 
himself  in  the  castle.  He  had  hardly  got  thither 
before  he  heard  all  sorts  of  music;  he  entered 
into  a  great  room,  where  the  friends  and  kindred 
of  the  old  man  and  the  young  lady  were  as- 
sembled. No  one  could  look  more  amiable  than 
she;  but  the  paleness  of  her  complexion,  the 
melancholy  that  appeared  in  her  countenance, 
and  the  tears  that  now  and  then  dropped,  as  it 
were  by  stealth  from  her  eyes,  betrayed  the 
trouble  of  her  mind. 

Leander  now  became  invisible,  and  placed 
himself  in  a  corner  of  the  room.  He  soon  per- 
ceived the  father  and  mother  of  the  bride ;  and 
coming  behind  the  mother's  chair,  whispered  in 
her  ear,  "If  you  marry  your  daughter  to  that 
old  dotard,  before  eight  days  are  over  you  shall 
certainly  die."  The  wroman,  frightened  to  hear 
such  a  terrible  sentence  pronounced  upon  her, 
and  yet  not  know  from  whence  it  came,  gave  a 
loud  shriek  and  dropped  upon  the  floor.  Her 
husband  asked  what  ailed  her :  she  cried  that  she 

[148] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

was  a  dead  woman  if  the  marriage  of  her 
daughter  went  forward,  and  therefore  she  would 
not  consent  to  it  for  all  the  world.  Her  husband 
laughed  at  her  and  called  her  a  fool.  But  the 
invisible  Leander  accosting  the  man,  threatened 
him  in  the  same  way,  which  frightened  him  so 
terribly  that  he  also  insisted  on  the  marriage 
being  broken  off.  When  the  lover  complained, 
Leander  trod  hard  upon  his  gouty  toes  and  rang 
such  an  alarm  in  his  ears  that,  not  being  able 
any  longer  to  hear  himself  speak,  away  he 
limped,  glad  enough  to  go.  The  real  lover  soon 
appeared,  and  he  and  his  fair  mistress  fell 
joyfully  into  one  another's  arms,  the  parents 
consenting  to  their  union.  Leander,  assuming 
his  own  shape,  appeared  at  the  hall  door,  as  if 
he  were  a  stranger  drawn  thither  by  the  report 
of  this  extraordinary  wedding. 

From  hence  he  traveled  on,  and  came  to  a 
great  city,  where,  upon  his  arrival,  he  under- 
stood there  was  a  great  and  solemn  procession, 
in  order  to  shut  up  a  young  woman  against  her 
will  among  the  vestal-nuns.  The  prince  was 
touched  with  compassion ;  and  thinking  the  best 
use  he  could  make  of  his  cap  was  to  redress 
public  wrongs  and  relieve  the  oppressed,  he  flew 
to  the  temple,  where  he  saw  the  young  woman, 

[149] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

crowned  with  flowers,  clad  in  white,  and  with  her 
disheveled  hair  flowing  ahout  her .  shoulders. 
Two  of  her  brothers  led  her  hy  each  hand,  and 
her  mother  followed  her  with  a  great  crowd  of 
men  and  women.  Leander,  being  invisible,  cried 
out,  "Stop,  stop,  wicked  brethren:  stop,  rash 
and  inconsiderate  mother;  if  you  proceed  any 
further,  you  shall  be  squeezed  to  death  like  so 
many  frogs. "  They  looked  about,  but  could 
not  conceive  from  whence  these  terrible  menaces 
eame.  The  brothers  said  it  was  only  their 
sister  *s  lover,  who  had  hid  himself  in  some  hole ; 
at  which  Leander,  in  wrath,  took  a  long  cudgel, 
and  they  had  no  reason  to  say  the  blows  were  not 
well  laid  on.  The  multitude  fled,  the  vestals 
ran  away,  and  Leander  was  left  alone  with  the 
victim;  immediately  he  pulled  off  his  red  cap 
ajid  asked  her  wherein  he  might  serve  her.  She 
answered  him  that  there  was  a  certain  gentle- 
man whom  she  would  be  glad  to  marry,  but  that 
he  wanted  an  estate.  Leander  then  shook  his 
rose  so  long  that  he  supplied  them  with  ten 
millions;  after  which  they  were  married  and 
lived  happily  together. 

But  his  last  adventure  was  the  most  agreeable. 
Entering  into  a  wide  forest,  he  heard  lamentable 
cries.  Looking  about  him  every  way,  at  length 

[150] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

he  spied  four  men  well  armed,  who  were  carry- 
ing away  by  force  a  young  lady,  thirteen  or 
fourteen  years  of  age;  upon  which,  making  up 
to  them  as  fast  as  he  could,  "What  harm  has 
that  girl  done?"  said  he. 

"Ha!  ha!  my  little  master,"  cried  he  who 
seemed  to  be  the  ringleader  of  the  rest,  "who 
bade  you  inquire?" 

"Let  her  alone,'-3  said  Leander,  "and  go 
about  your  business." 

"Oh,  yes,  to  be  sure,"  cried  they,  laughing; 
whereupon  the  prince,  alighting,  put  on  his  red 
cap,  not  thinking  it  otherwise  prudent  to  attack 
four  who  seemed  strong  enough  to  fight  a 
dozen.  One  of  them  stayed  to  take  care  of  the 
young  lady,  while  the  three  others  went  after 
Gris-de-line,  who  gave  them  a  great  deal  of  un- 
welcome exercise. 

Meantime  the  young  lady  continued  her  cries 
and  complaints.  "Oh,  my  dear  princess,"  said 
she,  "how  happy  was  I  in  your  palace !  Did  you 
but  know  my  sad  misfortune,  you  would  send 
your  Amazons  to  rescue  poor  Abricotina." 

Leander,  having  listened  to  what  she  said, 
without  delay  seized  the  ruffian  that  held  her, 
and  bound  him  fast  to  a  tree  before  he  had  time 
or  strength  to  defend  himself.  He  then  went  to 

[151] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  second,  and  taking  him  by  both  arms,  bound 
him  in  the  same  manner  to  another  tree.  In  the 
meantime  Abricotina  made  the  best  of  her  good 
fortune  and  betook  herself  to  her  heels,  not 
knowing  which  way  she  went.  But  Leander, 
missing  her,  called  out  to  his  horse  Gris-de-line ; 
who,  by  two  kicks  with  his  hoof,  rid  himself  of 
the  two  ruffians  who  had  pursued  him:  one  of 
them  had  his  head  broken  and  the  other  three 
of  his  ribs.  And  now  Leander  only  wanted  to 
overtake  Abricotina ;  for  he  thought  her  so  hand- 
some that  he  wished  to  see  her  again.  He  found 
her  leaning  against  a  tree.  When  she  saw  Gris- 
de-line  coming  toward  her,  "How  lucky  am  I!" 
cried  she;  "this  pretty  little  horse  will  carry  me 
to  the  palace  of  pleasure.-'  Leander  heard  her, 
though  she  saw  him  not:  he  rode  up  to  her; 
Gris-de-line  stopped,  and  when  Abricotina 
mounted  him,  Leander  clasped  her  in  his  arms 
and  placed  her  gently  before  him.  Oh,  how 
great  was  Abricotina 's  fear  to  feel  herself  fast 
embraced,  and  yet  see  nobody!  She  durst  not 
stir,  and  shut  her  eyes  for  fear  of  seeing  a  spirit. 
But  Leander  took  off  his  little  cap.  "How  comes 
it,  fair  Abricotina,'-5  said  he,  "that  you  are 
afraid  of  me,  who  delivered  you  out  of  the-  hands 
of  the  ruffians?" 

[152] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

With  that  she  opened  her  eyes,  and  knowing 
him  again,  "Oh,  sir,"  said  she,  "I  am  infinitely 
obliged  to  you ;  but  I  was  afraid,  for  I  felt  my- 
self held  fast  and  could  see  no  one." 

"Surely,"  replied  Leander,  "the  danger  you 
have  been  in  has  disturbed  you  and  cast  a  mist 
before  your  eyes." 

Abricotina  would  not  seem  to  doubt  him, 
though  she  was  otherwise  extremely  sensible. 
And  after  they  had  talked  for  some  time  of  in- 
different things,  Leander  requested  her  to  tell 
him  her  age,  her  country,  and  by  what  accident 
she  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  ruffians. 

"Know  then,  sir,"  said  she,  "there  was  a  cer- 
tain very  great  fairy  married  to  a  prince  who 
wearied  of  her :  she  therefore  banished  him  from 
her  presence,  and  established  herself  and  daugh- 
ter in  the  Island  of  Calm  Delights.  The  princess, 
who  is  my  mistress,  being  very  fair,  has  many 
lovers — among  others,  one  named  Puribon, 
whom  she  detests;  he  it  was  whose  ruffians 
seized  me  to-day  when  I  was  wandering  in 
search  of  a  stray  parrot.  Accept,  noble  prince, 
my  best  thanks  for  your  valor,  which  I  shall 
never  forget." 

Leander  said  how  happy  he  was  to  have 
served  her,  and  asked  if  he  could  not  obtain 

[1531 


THE  LITTLE  LAME   PRINCE 

admission  into  the  island.  Abricotina  assured 
him  this  was  impossible,  and  therefore  he  had 
better  forget  all  about  it.  While  they  were  thus 
conversing,  they  came  to  the  bank  of  a  large 
river.  Abricotina  alighted  with  a  nimble  jump 
from  the  horse. 

"Farewell,  sir,"  said  she  to  the  prince,  mak- 
ing a  profound  reverence;  "I  wish  you  every 
happiness." 

"And  I,"  said  Leander,  "wish  that  I  may  now 
and  then  have  a  small  share  in  your  remem- 
brance. '•* 

So  saying,  he  galloped  away  and  soon  entered 
into  the  thickest  part  of  the  wood,  near  a  river, 
where  he  unbridled  and  unsaddled  Gris-de-line ; 
then,  putting  on  his  little  cap,  wished  himself 
in  the  Island  of  Calm  Delights,  and  his  wish 
was  immediately  accomplished. 

The  palace  was  of  pure  gold,  and  stood  upon 
pillars  of  crystal  and  precious  stones,  which 
represented  the  zodiac  and  all  the  wonders  of 
nature;  all  the  arts  and  sciences;  the  sea,  with 
all  the  variety  of  fish  therein  contained;  the 
earth,  with  all  the  various  creatures  which  it 
produces ;  the  chases  of  Diana  and  her  nymphs ; 
the  noble  exercises  of  the  Amazons ;  the  amuse- 
ments of  a  country  life;  flocks  of  sheep  with 

[154] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

their  shepherds  and  dogs;  the  toils  of  agri- 
culture, harvesting,  gardening.  And  among  all 
this  variety  of  representations  there  was  neither 
man  nor  boy  to  be  seen — not  so  much  as  a  little 
winged  Cupid ;  so  highly  had  the  princess  been 
incensed  against  her  inconstant  husband  as  not 
to  show  the  least  favor  to  his  fickle  sex. 

"Abricotina  did  not  deceive  me,'*  said 
Leander  to  himself;  "they  have  banished  from 
hence  the  very  idea  of  men ;  now  let  us  see  what 
they  have  lost  by  it. ' '  With  that  he  entered  into 
the  palace,  and  at  every  step  he  took  he  met  with 
objects  so  wonderful  that  when  he  had  once 
fixed  his  eyes  upon  them  he  had  much  ado  to 
take  them  off  again.  He  viewed  a  vast  number 
of  these  apartments,  some  full  of  china,  no  less 
fine  than  curious ;  others  lined  with  porcelain,  so 
delicate  that  the  walls  were  quite  transparent. 
Coral,  jasper,  agates,  and  cornelians  adorned  the 
rooms  of  state,  and  the  presence-chamber  was 
one  entire  mirror.  The  throne  was  one  great 
pearl,  hollowed  like  a  shell;  the  princess  sat, 
surrounded  by  her  maidens,  none  of  whom  could 
compare  with  herself.  In  her  was  all  the  inno- 
cent sweetness  of  youth,  joined  to  the  dignity  of 
maturity;  in  truth,  she  was  perfection;  and  so 
thought  the  invisible  Leander. 

[155] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Not  seeing  Abricotina,  she  asked  where  she 
was.  Upon  that,  Leander,  being  very  desirous 
to  speak,  assumed  the  tone  of  a  parrot,  for  there 
were  many  in  the  room,  and  addressed  himself 
invisibly  to  the  princess. 

"Most  charming  princess,-'  said  he,  "Abrico- 
tina will  return  immediately.  She  was  in  great 
danger  of  being  carried  away  from  this  place  but 
for  a  young  prince  who  rescued  her." 

The  princess  was  surprised  at  the  parrot,  his 
answer  was  so  extremely  pertinent. 

"You  are  very  rude,  little  parrot,"  said  the 
princess;  "and  Abricotina,  when  she  comes, 
shall  chastise  you  for  it." 

"I  shall  not  be  chastised,"  answered  Leander, 
still  counterfeiting  the  parrot's  voice;  "more- 
over, she  will  let  you  know  the  great  desire  that 
stranger  had  to  be  admitted  into  this  palace, 
that  he  might  convince  you  of  the  falsehood  of 
those  ideas  which  you  have  conceived  against 
his  sex." 

"In  truth,  pretty  parrot,"  cried  the  princess, 
"it  is  a  pity  you  are  not  every  day  so  diverting; 
I  should  love  you  dearly." 

"Ah!  if  prattling  will  please  you,  princess," 
replied  Leander,  "I  will  prate  from  morning 
till  night." 

[156] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"But,"  continued  the  princess,  "how  shall  I 
be  sure  my  parrot  is  not  a  sorcerer*?" 

"He  is  more  in  love  than  any  sorcerer  can  be," 
replied  the  prince. 

At  this  moment  Abricotina  entered  the  room, 
and  falling  at  her  lovely  mistress'  feet,  gave  her 
a  full  account  of  what  had  befallen  her,  and  de- 
scribed the  prince  in  the  most  glowing  colors. 

"I  should  have  hated  all  men,"  added  she, 
"had  I  not  seen  him!  Oh,  madam,  how  charm- 
ing he  is!  His  air  and  all  his  behavior  have 
something  in  them  so  noble;  and  though  what- 
ever he  spoke  was  infinitely  pleasing,  yet  I  think 
I  did  well  in  not  bringing  him  hither." 

To  this  the  princess  said  nothing,  but  she 
asked  Abricotina  a  hundred  other  questions  con- 
cerning the  prince ;  whether  she  knew  his  name, 
his  country,  his  birth,  from  whence  he  came,  and 
whither  he  was  going;  and  after  this  she  fell 
into  a  profound  thoughtfulness. 

Leander  observed  everything,  and  continued 
to  chatter  as  he  had  begun. 

"Abricotina  is  ungrateful,  madam,"  said  he; 
"that  poor  stranger  will  die  for  grief  if  he  sees 
you  not." 

"Well,  parrot,  let  him  die,M  answered  the 
princess  with  a  sigh;  "and  since  thou  under- 

[157] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

takest  to  reason  like  a  person  of  wit,  and  not  a 
little  bird,  I  forbid  thee  to  talk  to  me  any  more 
of  this  unknown  person." 

Leander  was  overjoyed  to  find  that  Abrico- 
tina's  and  the  parrot's  discourse  had  made  such 
an  impression  on  the  princess.  He  looked  upon 
her  with  pleasure  and  delight.  "Can  it  be," 
said  he  to  himself,  "that  the  masterpiece  of 
nature,  that  the  wonder  of  our  age,  should  be 
confined  eternally  in  an  island,  and  no  mortal 
dare  to  approach  her?  But,"  continued  he, 
"wherefore  am  I  concerned  that  others  are 
banished  hence,  since  I  have  the  happiness  to  be 
with  her,  to  hear  and  to  admire  her ;  nay,  more, 
to  love  her  above  all  the  women  in  the  uni-* 
verse?" 

It  was  late,  and  the  princess  retired  into  a 
large  room  of  marble  and  porphyry,  where 
several  bubbling  fountains,  refreshed  the  air 
with  an  agreeable  coolness.  As  soon  as  she 
entered  the  music  began,  a  sumptuous  supper 
was  served  up,  and  the  birds  from  several 
aviaries  on  each  side  of  the  room,  of  which 
Abricotina  had  the  chief  care,  opened  their  little 
throats  in  the  most  agreeable  manner. 

Leander  had  traveled  a  journey  long  enough 
to  give  him  a  good  appetite,  which  made  him 

[158] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

draw  near  the  table,  where  the  very  smell  of  such 
viands  was  agreeable  and  refreshing.  The  prin- 
cess had  a  curious  tabby-cat,  for  which  she  had 
a  great  kindness.  This  cat  one  of  the  maids  of 
honor  held  in  her  arms,  saying,  "  Madam,  Bluet 
is  hungry!"  With  that  a  chair  was  presently 
brought  for  the  cat ;  for  he  was  a  cat  of  quality, 
and  had  a  necklace  of  pearl  about  his  neck.  He 
was  served  on  a  golden  plate  with  a  laced  napkin 
before  him;  and  the  plate  being  supplied  with 
meat,  Bluet  sat  with  the  solemn  importance  of 
an  alderman. 

"Ho!  ho!"  cried  Leander  to  himself;  "an 
idle  tabby  malkin,  that  perhaps  never  caught  a 
mouse  in  his  life,  and  I  dare  say  is  not  descended 
from  a  better  family  than  myself,  has  the  honor 
to  sit  at  table  with  my  mistress:  I  would  fain 
know  whether  he  loves  her  so  well  as  I  do." 

Saying  this,  he  placed  himself  in  the  chair  with 
the  cat  upon  his  knee,  for  nobody  saw  him,  be- 
cause he  had  his  little  red  cap  on ;  finding  Bluet's 
plate  well  supplied  with  partridge,  quails,  and 
pheasants,  he  made  so  free  with  them  that  what- 
ever was  set  before  Master  Puss  disappeared  in 
a  trice.  The  whole  court  said  no  act  ever  ate  with 
a  better  appetite.  There  were  excellent  ragouts, 
and  the  prince  made  use  of  the  cat's  paw  to  taste 

[159] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

them;  but  he  sometimes  pulled  his  paw  too 
roughly,  and  Bluet,  not  understanding  raillery, 
began  to  mew  and  be  quite  out  of  patience.  The 
princess  observing  it,  "  Bring  that  fricassee  and 
that  tart  to  poor  Bluet,"  said  she;  "see  how  he 
cries  to  have  them." 

Leander  laughed  to  himself  at  the  pleasant- 
ness of  this  adventure ;  but  he  was  very  thirsty, 
not  being  accustomed  to  make  such  large  meals 
without  drinking.  By  the  help  of  the  cat's  paw 
he  got  a  melon,  with  which  he  somewhat 
quenched  his  thirst ;  and  when  supper  was  quite 
over,  he  went  to  the  buffet  and  took  two  bottles 
of  delicious  wine. 

The  princess  now  retired  into  her  boudoir, 
ordering  Abricotina  to  follow  her  and  make  fast 
the  door ;  but  they  could  not  keep  out  Leander, 
who  was  there  as  soon  as  they.  However,  the 
princess,  believing  herself  alone  with  her  confi- 
dante : 

"Abricotina,"  said  she,  "tell  me  truly,  did 
you  exaggerate  in  your  description  of  the  un- 
known prince,  for  methinks  it  is  impossible  he 
should  be  as  amiable  as  you  say  ? ' ' 

"Madam,"  replied  the  damsel,"5  if  I  have 
failed  in  anything,  it  was  in  coming  short  of 
what  was  due  to  him." 

[160] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

The  princess  sighed  and  was  silent  for  a  time ; 
then  resuming  her  speech:  "I  am  glad,"  said 
she,  "thou  didst  not  bring  him  with  thee." 

"But,  madam,"  answered  Abricotina,  who 
was  a  cunning  girl,  and  already  penetrated  her 
mistress'  thoughts,  "suppose  he  had  come  to 
admire  the  wonders  of  these  beautiful  mansions, 
what  harm  could  he  have  done  us?  Will  you 
live  eternally  unknown  in  a  corner  of  the  world, 
concealed  from  the  rest  of  human  kind  ?  Of 
what  use  is  all  your  grandeur,  pomp,  magnifi- 
cence, if  nobody  sees  it?" 

"Hold  thy  peace,  prattler,"  replied  the  prin- 
cess, "and  do  not  disturb  that  happy  repose 
which  I  have  enjoyed  so  long." 

Abricotina  durst  make  no  reply ;  and  the  prin- 
cess, having  waited  her  answer  for  some  time, 
asked  her  whether  she  had  anything  to  say. 
Abricotina  then  said  she  thought  it  was  to  very 
little  purpose  her  mistress  having  sent  her 
picture  to  the  courts  of  several  princes,  where 
it  only  served  to  make  those  who  saw  it  miser- 
able ;  that  every  one  would  be  desirous  to  marry 
her,  and  as  she  could  not  marry  them  all,  indeed 
none  of  them,  it  would  make  them  desperate. 

"Yet,  for  all  that,"  said  the  princess,  I  could 

[161] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

wish  my  picture  were  in  the  hands  of  this  same 
stranger. " 

"Oh,  madam,"  answered  Abricotina,  "is  not 
his  desire  to  see  you  violent  enough  already? 
"Would  you  augment  it?" 

"Yes,"  cried  the  princess;  "a  certain  impulse 
of  vanity,  which  I  was  never  sensible  of  till  now, 
has  bred  this  foolish  fancy  in  me." 

Leander  heard  all  this  discourse,  and  lost  not 
a  tittle  of  what  she  said;  some  of  her  expres- 
sions gave  him  hope,  others  absolutely  destroyed 
it.  The  princess  presently  asked  Abricotina 
whether  she  had  seen  anything  extraordinary 
during  her  short  travels. 

"Madam,"  said  she,  "I  passed  through  one 
forest  where  I  saw  certain  creatures  that  re- 
sembled little  children:  they  skip  and  dance 
upon  the  trees  like  squirrels ;  they  are  very  ugly, 
but  have  wonderful  agility  and  address." 

"I  wish  I  had  one  of  them,"  said  the  princess ; 
"but  if  they  are  so  nimble  as  you  say  they  are, 
it  is  impossible  to  catch  one." 

Leander,  who  passed  through  the  same  forest, 
knew  what  Abricotina  meant,  and  presently 
wished  himself  in  the  place.  He  caught  a  dozen 
of  little  monkeys,  some  bigger,  some  less,  and  all 
of  different  colors,  and  with  much  ado  put  them 

[162] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

into  a  large  sack ;  then,  wishing  himself  at  Paris, 
where,  he  had  heard,  a  man  might  have  every- 
thing for  money,  he  went  and  bought  a  little  gold 
chariot.  He  taught  six  green  monkeys  to  draw 
it ;  they  were  harnessed  with  fine  traces  of  flame- 
colored  morocco  leather.  He  went  to  another 
place,  where  he  met  with  two  monkeys  of  merit, 
the  most  pleasant  of  which  was  called  Briscam- 
bril,  the  other  Pierceforest — both  very  spruce 
and  well  educated.  He  dressed  Briscambril  like 
a  king  and  placed  him  in  the  coach ;  Pierceforest 
he  made  the  coachman ;  the  others  were  dressed 
like  pages ;  all  which  he  put  into  his  sack,  coach 
and  all. 

The  princess  not  being  gone  to  bed,  heard  a 
rumbling  of  a  little  coach  in  the  long  gallery ;  at 
the  same  time,  her  ladies  came  to  tell  her  that 
the  king  of  the  dwarfs  was  arrived,  and  the 
chariot  immediately  entered  her  chamber  with 
all  the  monkey  train.  The  country  monkeys  be- 
gan to  show  a  thousand  tricks,  which  far 
surpassed  those  of  Briscambril  and  Pierce- 
forest. To  say  the  truth,  Leander  conducted  the 
whole  machine.  He  drew  the  chariot  where 
Briscambril  sat  arrayed  as  a  king,  and  making 
him  hold  a  box  of  diamonds  in  his  hand,  he  pre- 
sented it  with  a  becoming  grace  to  the  princess, 

[163] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

The  princess'  surprise  may  be  easily  imagined. 
Moreover,  Briscambril  made  a  sign  for  Fierce- 
forest  to  come  and  dance  with  him.  The  most 
celebrated  dancers  were  not  to  be  compared  with 
them  in  activity.  But  the  princess,  troubled 
that  she  could  not  guess  from  whence  this 
curious  present  came,  dismissed  the  dancers 
sooner  than  she  would  otherwise  have  done, 
though  she  was  extremely  pleased  with  them. 

Leander,  satisfied  with  having  seen  the  de- 
light the  princess  had  taken  in  beholding  the 
monkeys,  thought  of  nothing  now  but  to  get  a 
little  repose,  which  he  greatly  wanted.  He 
stayed  sometime  in  the  great  gallery ;  afterward, 
going  down  a  pair  of  stairs,  and  finding  a  door 
open,  he  entered  into  an  apartment  the  most  de- 
lightful that  ever  was  seen.  There  was  in  it  a 
bed  of  cloth-of-gold,  enriched  with  pearls,  inter- 
mixed with  rubies  and  emeralds:  for  by  this 
time  there  appeared  daylight  sufficient  for  him 
to  view  and  admire  the  magnificence  of  this 
sumptuous  furniture.  Having  made  fast  the 
door,  he  composed  himself  to  sleep.  Next  day 
he  rose  very  early,  and  looking  about  on  every 
side,  he  spied  a  painter's  pallet,  with  colors  ready 
prepared  and  pencils.  Remembering  what  the 
princess  had  said  to  Abricotina  touching  her 

[164] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

own  portrait,  he  immediately  (for  he  could  paint 
as  well  as  the  most  excellent  masters)  seated 
himself  before  a  mirror  and  drew  his  own  pic- 
ture first ;  then,  in  an  oval,  that  of  the  princess. 
He  had  all  her  features  so  strong  in  his  imagi- 
nation that  he  had  no  occasion  for  her  sitting; 
and  as  his  desire  to  please  her  had  set  him  to 
work,  never  did  portrait  bear  a  stronger  resem- 
blance. He  had  painted  himself  upon  one  knee, 
holding  the  princess'  picture  in  one  hand,  and 
in  the  other  a  label  with  this  inscription,  "She 
is  better  in  my  heart. ' '  When  the  princess  went 
into  her  cabinet,  she  was  amazed  to  see  the  por- 
trait of  a  man;  and  she  fixed  her  eyes  upon  it 
with  so  much  the  more  surprise,  because  she  also 
saw  her  own  with  it,  and  because  the  words 
which  were  written  upon  the  label  afforded  her 
ample  room  for  curiosity.  She  persuaded  her- 
self that  it  was  Abricotina's  doing;  and  all  she 
desired  to  know  was  whether  the  portrait  was 
real  or  imaginary.  Rising  in  haste,  she  called 
Abricotina,  while  the  invisible .  Leander,  with 
his  little  red  cap,  slipped  into  the  cabinet,  im- 
patient to  know  what  passed.  The  princess  bade 
Abricotina  look  upon  the  picture  and  tell  her 
what  she  thought  of  it. 

After  she  had  viewed  it,  "I  protest/"  said  she, 

[165] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

"'tis  the  picture  of  that  generous  stranger  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  my  life.  Yes,  yes,  I  am 
sure  it  is  he ;  his  very  features,  shape,  and  hair."- 

"Thou  pretendest  surprise,"  said  the  prin- 
cess, "but  I  know  it  was  thou  thyself  who  put  it 
there." 

"Who!  I,  madam  f"  replied  Abricotina.  "I 
protest  I  never  saw  the  picture  before  in  my  life. 
Should  I  be  so  bold  as  to  conceal  from  your 
knowledge  a  thing  that  so  nearly  concerns  you  ? 
And  by  what  miracle  could  I  come  by  it?  I 
never  could  paint,  nor  did  any  man  ever  enter 
this  place ;  yet  here  he  is  painted  with  you. ' ' 

"Some  spirit,  then,  must  have  brought  it 
Hither,"  cried  the  princess. 

"How  I  tremble  for  fear,  madam!"  said 
Abricotina.  "Was  it  not  rather  some  lover? 
And  therefore,  if  you  will  take  my  advice,  let  us 
burn  it  immediately." 

"  'Twere  a  pity  to  burn  it,"  cried  the  princess, 
sighing;  "a  finer  piece,  methinks,  cannot  adorn 
my  cabinet."  And  saying  these  words,  she  cast 
her  eyes  upon  it.  But  Abricotina  continued 
obstinate  in  her  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be 
burned,  as  a  thing  that  could  not  come  there  but 
by  the  power  of  magic. 

"And   these   words — 'She   is   better   in   my 

[166] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

heart,7  "  said  the  princess;  "must  we  burn  them 
too?" 

"No  favor  must  be  shown  to  anything,"  said 
Abricotina,  "not  even  to  your  own  portrait." 

Abricotina  ran  away  immediately  for  some 
fire,  while  the  princess  went  to  look  out  at  the 
window.  Leander,  unwilling  to  let  his  perform- 
ance be  burned,  took  this  opportunity  to  convey 
it  aw^ay  without  being  perceived.  He  had  hardly 
quitted  the  cabinet,  wrhen  the  princess  turned 
about  to  look  once  more  upon  that  enchanting 
picture,  which  had  so  delighted  her.  But  how 
was  she  surprised  to  find  it  gone!  She  sought 
for  it  all  the  room  over ;  and  Abricotina,  return- 
ing, was  no  less  surprised  than  her  mistress ;  so 
that  this  last  adventure  put  them  both  in  the 
most  terrible  fright. 

Leander  took  great  delight  in  hearing  and 
seeing  his  incomparable  mistress;  even  though 
he  had  to  eat  every  day  at  her  table  with  the 
tabby-cat,  who  fared  never  the  worse  for  that; 
but  his  satisfaction  was  far  from  being  complete, 
seeing  he  durst  neither  speak  nor  show  himself; 
and  he  knew  it  was  not  a  common  thing  for 
ladies  to  fall  in  love  with  persons  invisible. 

The  princess  had  a  universal  taste  for  amuse- 
ment. One  day,  she  was  saying  to  her  attend- 

[167] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

ants  that  it  would  give  her  great  pleasure  to 
know  how  the  ladies  were  dressed  in  all  the 
courts  of  the  universe.  There  needed  no  more 
words  to  send  Leander  all  over  the  world.  He 
wished  himself  in  China,  where  he  bought  the 
richest  stuffs  he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  and  got 
patterns  of  all  the  court  fashions.  From  thence 
he  flew  to  Siam,  where  he  did  the  same ;  in  three 
days  he  traveled  over  all  the  four  parts  of  the 
world,  and  from  time  to  time  brought  what  he 
bought  to  the  Palace  of  Calm  Delights,  and  hid 
it  all  in  a  chamber,  which  he  kept  always  locked. 
When  he  had  thus  collected  together  all  the 
rarities  he  could  meet  with — for  he  never  wanted 
money,  his  rose  always  supplying  him — he  went 
and  bought  five  or  six  dozen  of  dolls,  which  he 
caused  to  be  dressed  at  Paris,  the  place  in  the 
world  where  most  regard  is  paid  to  fashions. 
They  were  all  dressed  differently,  and  as  mag- 
nificent as  could  be,  and  Leander  placed  them  all 
in  the  princess'  closet.  When  she  entered  it,  she 
was  agreeably  surprised  to  see  such  company  of 
little  mutes,  every  one  decked  with  watches, 
bracelets,  diamond  buckles,  or  necklaces;  and 
the  most  remarkable  of  them  held  a  picture  box 
in  its  hand,  which  the  princess  opening,  found  it 
contained  Leander 's  portrait.  She  gave  a  loud 

[168] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

shriek,  and  looking  upon  Abricotina,  "There 
have  appeared  of  late,"  said  she,  "so  many 
wonders  in  this  place,  that  I  know  not  what  to 
think  of  them :  my  birds  are  all  grown  witty ;  I 
cannot  so  much  as  wish,  but  presently  I  have 
my  desires ;  twice  have  I  now  seen  the  portrait 
of  him  who  rescued  thee  from  the  ruffians ;  and 
here  are  silks  of  all  sorts,  diamonds,  em- 
broideries, laces,  and  an  infinite  number  of  other 
rarities.  What  fairy  is  it  that  takes  such  care  to 
pay  me  these  agreeable  civilities?" 

Leander  was  overjoyed  to  hear  and  see  her  so 
much  interested  about  his  picture,  and  calling  to 
mind  that  there  was  in  a  grotto  which  she  often 
frequented  a  certain  pedestal,  on  which  a  Diana, 
not  yet  finished,  was  to  be  erected,  on  this  pedes- 
tal he  resolved  to  place  himself,  crowned  with 
laurel,  and  holding  a  lyre  in  his  hand,  on  which 
he  played  like  another  Apollo.  He  most 
anxiously  waited  the  princess'  retiring  to  the 
grotto,  which  she  did  every  day  since  her 
thoughts  had  taken  up  with  this  unknown  per- 
son ;  for  what  Abricotina  had  said,  joined  to  the 
sight  of  the  picture,  had  almost  destroyed  her 
repose :  her  lively  humor  changed  into  a  pensive 
melancholy,  and  she  grew  a  great  lover  of  soli- 
tude. When  she  entered  the  grotto,  she  made  a 

[1691 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

sign  that  nobody  should  follow  her,  so  that  her 
young  damsels  dispersed  themselves  into  the 
neighboring  walks.  The  princess  threw  herself 
upon  a  bank  of  green  turf,  sighed,  wept,  and 
even  talked,  but  so  softly  that  Leander  could  not 
hear  what  she  said.  He  had  put  his  red  cap  on, 
that  she  might  not  see  him  at  first;  but  having 
taken  it  on*,  she  beheld  him  standing  on  the 
pedestal.  At  first  she  took  him  for  a  real  statue, 
for  he  observed  exactly  the  attitude  in  which  he 
had  placed  himself,  without  moving  so  much  as 
a  finger.  She  beheld  with  a  kind  of  pleasure 
intermixed  with  fear,  but  pleasure  soon  dis- 
pelled her  fear,  and  she  continued  to  view  the 
pleasing  figure,  which  so  exactly  resembled  life. 
The  prince  having  tuned  his  lyre,  began  to 
play;  at  which  the  princess,  greatly  surprised, 
could  not  resist  the  fear  that  seized  her;  she 
grew  pale  and  fell  into  a  swoon.  Leander 
leaped  from  the  pedestal,  and  putting  on  his 
little  red  cap,  that  he  might  not  be  perceived, 
took  the  princess  in  his  arms  and  gave  her  all  the 
assistance  that  his  zeal  and  tenderness  could  in- 
spire. At  length  she  opened  her  charming  eyes 
and  looked  about  in  search  of  him,  but  she  could 
perceive  nobody ;  yet  she  felt  somebody  who  held 
ner  hands,  kissed  them,  and  bedewed  them  with 

[1701 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

his  tears.  It  was  a  long  time  before  she  durst 
speak,  and  her  spirits  were  in  a  confused  agita- 
tion between  fear  and  hope.  She  was  afraid  of 
the  spirit,  but  loved  the  figure  of  the  unknown. 
At  length  she  said:  "Courtly  invisible,  wrhy  are 
you  not  the  person  I  desire  you  should  be  f"  At 
these  words  Leander  was  going  to  declare  him- 
self, but  durst  not  do  it  yet.  "For,"  thought  he, 
"if  I  again  affright  the  object  I  adore  and  make 
her  fear  me,  she  will  not  love  me."  This  con- 
sideration caused  him  to  keep  silence. 

The  princess,  then,  believing  herself  alone, 
called  Abricotina  and  told  her  all  the  wonders 
of  the  animated  statue;  that  it  had  played 
divinely,  and  that  the  invisible  person  had  given 
her  great  assistance  when  she  lay  in  a  swoon. 

"What  pity  'tis,"  said  she,  "that  this  person 
should  be  so  frightful,  for  nothing  can  be  more 
amiable  or  acceptable  than  his  behavior!" 

"Who  told  you,  madam,"  answered  Abrico- 
tina, "that  he  is  frightful?  If  he  is  the  youth 
who  saved  me,  he  is  beautiful  as  Cupid  himself." 

"If  Cupid  and  the  unknown  are  the  same," 
replied  the  princess,  blushing,  "I  could  be  con- 
tent to  love  Cupid ;  but  alas !  how  far  am  I  from 
such  a  happiness!  I  love  a  mere  shadow;  and 
this  fatal  picture,  joined  to  what  thou  hast  told 

TO  [171] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

me,  have  inspired  me  with  inclinations  so  con- 
trary to  the  precepts  which  I  received  from  my 
mother  that  I  am  daily  afraid  of  being  punished 
for  them." 

"Oh!  madam,"  said  Abricotina,  interrupting 
her,  "have  you  not  troubles  enough  already? 
Why  should  you  anticipate  afflictions  which  may 
never  come  to  pass  f  'J 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  what  pleasure  Leander 
took  in  this  conversation. 

In  the  meantime  the  little  Furibon,  still 
enamored  of  the  princess  whom  he  had  never 
seen,  expected  with  impatience  the  return  of  the 
four  servants  whom  he  had  sent  to  the  Island  of 
Qalm  Delights.  One  of  them  at  last  came  back, 
and  after  he  had  given  the  prince  a  particular 
account  of  what  had  passed,  told  him  that  the 
island  was  defended  by  Amazons,  and  that  un- 
less he  sent  a  very  powerful  army,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  get  into  it.  The  king  his  father 
was  dead,  and  Furibon  was  now  lord  of  all :  dis- 
daining, therefore,  any  repulse,  he  raised  an 
army  of  four  hundred  thousand  men,  and  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  them,  appearing  like  an- 
other Tom  Thumb  upon  a  war-horse.  Now, 
when  the  Amazons  perceived  his  mighty  host, 
they  gave  the  princess  notice  of  it,  who 

[172] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

immediately  dispatched  away  her  trusty  Abri- 
cotina to  the  kingdom  of  the  fairies,  to  beg  her 
mother's  instructions  as  to  what  she  should  do 
to  drive  the  little  Furibon  from  her  territories. 
But  Abricotina  found  the  fairy  in  an  angry 
humor. 

"Nothing  that  my  daughter  does,"  said  she, 
"escapes  my  knowledge.  The  Prince  Leander  is 
now  in  her  palace;  he  loves  her,  and  she  has  a 
tenderness  for  him.  All  my  cares  and  precepts 
have  not  been  able  to  guard  her  from  the 
tyranny  of  love,  and  she  is  now  under  its  fatal 
dominion.  But  it  is  the  decree  of  destiny,  and  I 
must  submit ;  therefore,  Abricotina,  begone !  nor 
let  me  hear  a  word  more  of  a  daughter  whose  be- 
havior has  so  much  displeased  me." 

Abricotina  returned  with  these  ill  tidings, 
whereat  the  princess  was  almost  distracted ;  and 
this  was  soon  perceived  by  Leander,  who  was 
near  her,  though  she  did  not  see  him.  He  beheld 
her  grief  with  the  greatest  pain.  However,  he 
durst  not  then  open  his  lips;  but  recollecting 
that  Furibon  was  exceedingly  covetous,  he 
thought  that,  by  giving  him  a  sum  of  money,  he 
mightperhaps  prevail  with  him  to  retire.  There- 
upon, he  dressed  himself  like  an  Amazon,  and 
wished  himself  in  the  forest,  to  catch  his  horse. 

[173] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

He  had  no  sooner  called  him  than  Gris-de-line 
came  leaping,  prancing,  and  neighing  for  joy, 
for  he  was  grown  quite  weary  of  being  so  long 
absent  from  his  dear  master ;  but  when  he  beheld 
him  dressed  as  a  woman  he  hardly  knew  him. 
However,  at  the  sound  of  his  voice,  he  suffered 
the  prince  to  mount,  and  they  soon  arrived  in  the 
camp  at  Furibon,  where  they  gave  notice  that  a 
lady  was  come  to  speak  with  him  from  the 
Princess  of  Calm  Delights.  Immediately  the 
little  fellow  put  on  his  royal  robes,  and  having 
placed  himself  upon  his  throne,  he  looked  like  a 
great  toad  counterfeiting  a  king. 

Leander  harangued  him,  and  told  him  that  the 
princess,  preferring  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life 
to  the  fatigues  of  war.  had  sent  to  offer  his  ma- 
jesty as  much  money  as  he  pleased  to  demand, 
provided  he  would  suffer  her  to  continue  in 
peace ;  but  if  he  refused  her  proposal,  she  would 
omit  no  means  that  might  serve  for  her  defense. 
Euribon  replied  that  he  took  pity  on  her,  and 
would  grant  her  the  honor  of  his  protection ;  but 
that  he  demanded  a  hundred  thousand  millions 
of  pounds,  and  without  which  he  would  not  re- 
turn to  his  kingdom.  Leander  answered  that 
such  a  vast  sum  would  be  too  long  a-counting, 
and  therefore,  if  he  would  say  how  many  rooms 

[174] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

full  lie  desired  to  have,  the  princess  was  generous 
and  rich  enoug  hto  satisfy  him.  Furibon  was 
astonished  to  hear  that,  instead  of  entreating, 
she  would  rather  offer  more;  and  it  came  into 
his  wicked  mind  to  take  all  the  money  he  could 
get,  and  then  seize  the  Amazon  and  kill  her,  that 
she  might  never  return  to  her  mistress.  He  told 
Leander,  therefore,  that  he  would  have  thirty 
chambers  of  gold,  all  full  to  the  ceiling. 
Leander,  being  conducted  into  the  chambers, 
took  his  rose  and  shook  it,  till  every  room  was 
filled  with  all  sorts  of  coin.  Furibon  was  in  an 
ecstasy,  and  the  more  gold  he  saw  the  greater 
was  his  desire  to  get  hold  of  the  Amazon ;  so  that 
when  all  the  rooms  were  full,  he  commanded  his 
guards  to  seize  her,  alleging  she  had  brought 
him  counterfeit  money.  Immediately  Leander 
put  on  his  little  red  cap  and  disappeared.  The 
guards,  believing  that  the  lady  had  escaped,  ran 
out  and  left  Furibon  alone;  when  Leander, 
availing  himself  of  the  opportunity,  took  the 
tyrant  by  the  hair,  and  twisted  his  head  off  with 
the  same  ease  he  would  a  pullet's;  nor  did  the 
little  wretch  of  a  king  see  that  hand  that  killed 
him. 

Leander  having  got  his  enemy's  head,  wished 
himself  in  the  Palace  of  Calm  Delights,  where 

[175] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

he  found  the  princess  walking,  and  with  grief 
considering  the  message  which  her  mother  had 
sent  her,  and  on  the  means  to  repel  Furibon. 
Suddenly  she  beheld  a  head  hanging  in  the 
air,  with  nobody  to  hold  it.  This  prodigy  as- 
tonished her  so  that  she  could  not  tell  what  to 
think  of  it;  but  her  amazement  was  increased 
when  she  saw  the  head  laid  at  her  feet,  and  heard 
a  voice  utter  these  words : 

?<  Charming  Princess,  cease  your  fear 
Of  Furibon;  whose  head  see  here." 

Abricotina,  knowing  Leander's  voice,  cried: 

"I  protest,  madam,  the  invisible  person  who 
speaks  is  the  very  stranger  that  rescued  me. " 

The  princess  seemed  astonished,  but  yet 
pleased. 

"Oh,"  said  she,  "if  it  be  true  that  the  invisible 
and  the  stranger  are  the  same  person,  I  confess 
I  shall  be  glad  to  make  him  my  acknowl- 
edgments." 

Leander,  still  invisible,  replied,  "I  will  yet  do 
more  to  deserve  them;"  and  so  saying  he  re- 
turned to  Furibon 's  army,  where  the  report  of 
the  king's  death  was  already  spread  throughout 
the  camp.  As  soon  as  Leander  appeared  there 

[176] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

in  his  usual  habit,  everybody  knew  him ;  all  the 
officers  and  soldiers  surrounded  him,  uttering 
the  loudest  acclamations  of  joy.  In  short,  they 
acknowledged  him  for  their  king,  and  that  the 
crown  of  right  belonged  to  him,  for  which  he 
thanked  them,  and,  as  the  first  mark  of  his  royal 
bounty,  divided  the  thirty  rooms  of  gold  among 
the  soldiers.  This  done  he  returned  to  his 
princess,  ordering  his  army  to  march  back  into 
his  kingdom. 

The  princess  was  gone  to  bed.  Leander, 
therefore,  retired  into  his  own  apartment,  for 
he  was  very  sleepy — so  sleepy  that  he  forgot  to 
bolt  his  door;  and  so  it  happened  that  the 
princess,  rising  early  to  taste  the  morning  air, 
chanced  to  enter  into  this  very  chamber,  and  was 
astonished  to  find  a  young  prince  asleep  upon 
the  bed.  She  took  a  full  view  of  him,  and  was 
convinced  that  he  was  the  person  whose  picture 
she  had  in  her  diamond  box.  "  It  is  impossible, ' ' 
said  she,  "that  this  should  be  a  spirit;  for  can 
spirits  sleep?  Is  this  a  body  composed  of  air 
and  fire,  without  substance,  as  Abricotina  told 
me?"  She  softly  touched  his  hair,  and  heard 
him  breathe,  and  looked  at  him  as  if  she  could 
have  looked  forever.  While  she  was  thus  oc- 
cupied, her  mother,  the  fairy  entered  with  such  a 

[177] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

noise  that  Leander  started  out  of  his  sleep.  But 
how  deeply  was  he  afflicted  to  behold  his  beloved 
princess  in  the  most  deplorable  condition !  Her 
mother  dragged  her  by  the  hair  and  loaded  her 
with  a  thousand  bitter  reproaches.  In  what 
grief  and  consternation  were  the  two  young 
lovers,  who  saw  themselves  now  upon  the  point 
of  being  separated  forever !  The  princess  durst 
not  open  her  lips,  but  cast  her  eyes  upon 
Leander,  as  if  to  beg  his  assistance.  He  judged 
rightly  that  he  ought  not  to  deal  rudely  with  a 
power  superior  to  his  own,  and  therefore  he 
sought,  by  his  eloquence  and  submission,  to 
move  the  incensed  fairy.  He  ran  to  her,  threw 
himself  at  her  feet,  and  besought  her  to  have 
pity  upon  a  young  prince  who  would  never 
change  in  his  affection  for  her  daughter. 
The  princess,  encouraged,  also  embraced  her 
mother's  knees,  and  declared  that  without 
Leander  she  should  never  be  happy. 

" Happy!"  cried  the  fairy;  "you  know  not 
the  miseries  of  love  nor  the  treacheries  of  which 
lovers  are  capable.  They  bewitch  us  only  to 
poison  our  lives ;  I  have  known  it  by  experience ; 
and  will  you  suffer  the  same  1" 

"Is  there  no  exception,  madam?5'  replied 

[1781 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Leander,  and  his  countenance  showed  him  to  be 
one. 

But  neither  tears  nor  entreaties  could  move 
the  implacable  fairy;  and  it  is  very  probable 
that  she  would  have  never  pardoned  them,  had 
not  the  lovely  Gentilla  appeared  at  that  instant 
in  the  chamber,  more  brilliant  than  the  sun. 
Embracing  the  old  fairy : 

4 ' Dear  sister,"  said  she,  "I  am  persuaded  you 
cannot  have  forgotten  the  good  office  1  did  you 
when,  after  your  unhappy  marriage,  you  be- 
sought a  readmittance  into  Fairyland;  since 
then  I  never  desired  any  favor  at  your  hands, 
but  now  the  time  is  come.  Pardon,  then,  this 
lovely  princess;  consent  to  her  nuptials  with 
this  young  prince.  I  will  engage  he  shall  be 
ever  constant  to  her;  the  thread  of  their  days 
shall  be  spun  of  gold  and  silk ;  they  shall  live  to 
complete  your  happiness ;  and  I  will  never  for- 
get the  obligation  you  lay  upon  me." 

" Charming  Gentilla,"  cried  the  fairy,  "I 
consent  to  whatever  you  desire.  Come,  my  dear 
children,  and  receive  my  love."  So  saying,  she 
embraced  them  both. 

Abricotina,  just  then  entering,  cast  her  eyes 
upon  Leander ;  she  knew  him  again,  and  saw  he 

[179] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

was  perfectly  happy,  at  which  she,  too,  was  quite 
satisfied. 

"  Prince, "  condescendingly  said  the  fairy- 
mother,  "I  will  remove  the  Island  of  Calm 
Delights  into  your  own  kingdom,  live  with  you 
myself,  and  do  you  great  services." 

Whether  or  not  Prince  Leander  appreciated 
this  offer,  he  bowed  low,  and  assured  his  mother- 
in-law  that  no  favor  could  be  equal  to  the  one  he 
had  that  day  received  from  her  hands.  This 
short  compliment  pleased  the  fairy  exceedingly, 
for  she  belonged  to  those  ancient  days  when 
people  used  to  stand  a  whole  day  upon  one  leg 
complimenting  one  another.  The  nuptials  were 
performed  in  a  most  splendid  manner,  and  the 
young  prince  arid  princess  lived  together 
happily  many  years,  beloved  by  all  around  them. 


[180] 


PRINCE  CHERRY 


PRINCE  CHEEKY 

ONG  ago  there  lived  a  monarch,  who 
was  such  a  very  honest  man  that  his 
subjects  entitled  him  the  Good  King. 
One  day,  when  he  was  out  hunting,  a 
little  white  rabbit,  which  had  been  half-killed 
by  his  hounds,  leaped  right  into  his  majesty's 
arms.  Said  he,  caressing  it:  "This  poor  crea- 
ture has  put  itself  under  my  protection,  and  I 
will  allow  no  one  to  injure  it."  So  he  carried  it 
to  his  palace,  had  prepared  for  it  a  neat  little 
rabbit-hutch,  with  abundance  of  the  daintiest 
food,  such  as  rabbits  love,  and  there  he  left  it. 
The  same  night,  when  he  was  alone  in  his 
chamber,  there  appeared  to  him  a  beautiful  lady. 
She  was  dressed  neither  in  gold,  nor  silver,  nor 
brocade;  but  her  flowing  robes  were  white  as 
snow,  and  she  wore  a  garland  of  white  roses  on 
her  head.  The  Good  King  was  greatly  aston- 
ished at  the  sight ;  for  his  door  was  locked,  and 
he  wondered  how  so  dazzling  a  lady  could  pos- 
sibly enter ;  but  she  soon  removed  his  doubts. 
"I  am  the  fairy  Candide,"  said  she,  with  a 

[181] 


smiling  and  gracious  air.  "  Passing  through  the 
wood  where  you  were  hunting,  I  took  a  desire  to 
know  if  you  were  as  good  as  men  say  you  are,  I 
therefore  changed  myself  into  a  white  rabbit 
and  took  refuge  in  your  arms.  You  saved  me 
and  now  I  know  that  those  who  are  merciful  to 
dum  beasts  will  be  ten  times  more  so  to  human 
beings.  You  merit  the  name  your  subjects  give 
you:  you  are  the  Good  King.  I  thank  you  for 
your  protection,  and  shall  be  always  one  of  your 
best  friends.  You  have  but  to  say  what  you 
most  desire,  and  I  promise  you  your  wish  shall 
be  granted. " 

"  Madam, J?  replied  the  king,  "if  you  are  a 
fairy,  you  must  know,  without  my  telling  you, 
the  wish  of  my  heart.  I  have  one  well-beloved 
son,  Prince  Cherry:  whatever  kindly  feeling 
you  have  toward  me,  extend  it  to  him." 

1  i  Willingly,^ '  said  Candide.  * '  I  will  make  hirr^ 
the  handsomest,  richest,  or  most  powerful  prince 
in  the  world:  choose  whichever  you  desire  for 
him." 

* '  None  of  the  three,  ^  returned  the  father.  '  *  I 
only  wish  him  to  be  good — the  best  prince  in  the 
whole  world.  Of  what  use  would  riches,  power, 
or  beauty  be  to  him  if  he  were  a  bad  man?" 

"You  are  right,"  said  the  fairy;  "but  I  can- 

[182] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

not  make  him  good :  he  must  do  that  himself.  I 
can  only  change  his  external  fortunes;  for  his 
personal  character,  the  utmost  I  can  promise  is 
to  give  him  good  counsel,  reprove  him  for  his 
faults,  and  even  punish  him,  if  he  will  not 
punish  himself.  You  mortals  can  do  the  same 
with  your  children." 

"Ah,  yes!'^  said  the  king,  sighing.  Still,  he 
felt  that  the  kindness  of  a  fairy  was  something 
gained  for  his  son,  and  died  not  long  after,  con- 
tent and  at  peace. 

Prince  Cherry  mourned  deeply,  for  he  dearly 
loved  his  father,  and  would  have  gladly  given  all 
his  kingdoms  and  treasures  to  keep  him  in  life  a 
little  longer.  Two  days  after  the  Good  King 
was  no  more,  Prince  Cherry  was  sleeping  in  his 
chamber,  when  he  saw  the  same  dazzling  vision 
of  the  fairy  Candide. 

"I  promised  your  father,"  said  she,  "to  be 
your  best  friend,  and  in  pledge  of  this  take  what 
I  now  give  you;"  and  she  placed  a  small  gold 
ring  upon  his  finger.  "Poor  as  it  looks,  it  is 
more  precious  than  diamonds ;  for  whenever  you 
do  ill  it  will  prick  your  finger.  If,  after  that 
warning,  you  still  continue  in  evil,  you  will  lose 
my  friendship,  and  I  shall  become  your  direst 
enemy  ,a> 

[183] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

So  saying,  she  disappeared,  leaving  Cherry 
in  such  amazement  that  he  would  have  believed 
it  all  a  dream,  save  for  the  ring  on  his  finger. 

He  was  for  a  long  time  so  good  that  the  ring 
never  pricked  him  at  all ;  and  this  made  him  so 
cheerful  and  pleasant  in  his  humor  that  every- 
body called  him  " Happy  Prince  Cherry."  But 
one  unlucky  day  he  was  out  hunting  and  found 
no  sport,  which  vexed  him  so  much  that  he 
showed  his  ill  temper  by  his  looks  and  ways.  He 
fancied  his  ring  felt  very  tight  and  uncomfort- 
able, but  as  it  did  not  prick  him  he  took  no  heed 
of  this:  until,  re-entering  his  palace,  his  little 
pet  dog,  Bibi,  jumped  up  upon  him  and  was 
sharply  told  to  get  away.  The  creature,  ac- 
customed to  nothing  but  caresses,  tried  to  attract 
his  attention  by  pulling  at  his  garments,  when 
Prince  Cherry  turned  and  gave  it  a  severe  kick. 
At  this  moment  he  felt  in  his  finger  a  prick  like 
a  pin. 

"What  nonsense!"  said  he  to  himself.  "The 
fairy  must  be  making  game  of  me.  Why,  what 
great  evil  have  I  done  $  I,  the  master  of  a  great 
empire,  cannot  I  kick  my  own  dog?"j 

A  voice  replied,  or  else  Prince  Cherry 
imagined  it,  "No,  sire;  the  master  of  a  great  em- 
pire has  a  right  to  do  good,  but  not  eviL  I — a 

[184] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

fairy — am  as  much  above  you  as  you  are  above 
your  dog.  I  might  punish  you,  kill  you,  if 
I  chose ;  but  I  prefer  leaving  you  to  amend  your 
ways.  You  have  been  guilty  of  three  faults  to- 
day— bad  temper,  passion,  cruelty:  do  better 
to-morrow. ' 9 

The  prince  promised,  and  kept  his  word  a 
while ;  but  he  had  been  brought  up  by  a  foolish 
nurse,  who  indulged  him  in  every  way  and  was 
always  telling  him  that  he  would  be  a  king  one 
day,  when  he  might  do  as  he  liked  in  all  things. 
He  found  out  now  that  even  a  king  cannot  al- 
ways do  that ;  it  vexed  him  and  made  him  angry. 
His  ring  began  to  prick  him  so  often  that  his 
little  finger  was  continually  bleeding.  He  dis- 
liked this,  as  was  natural,  and  soon  began  to 
consider  whether  it  would  not  be  easier  to  throw 
the  ring  away  altogether  than  to  be  constantly 
annoyed  by  it.  It  was  such  a  queer  thing  for  a 
king  to  have  a  spot  of  blood  on  his  finger!  At 
last,  unable  to  put  up  with  it  any  more,  he  took 
his  ring  off  and  hid  it  where  he  would  never  see 
it ;  and  believed  himself  the  happiest  of  men,  for 
he  could  now  do  exactly  what  he  liked.  He  did 
it,  and  became  every  day  more  and  more  miser- 
able. 

One  day  he  saw  a  young  girl,  so  beautiful  that, 

[1851 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

being  always  accustomed  to  have  his  own  way, 
he  immediately  determined  to  espouse  her.  He 
never  doubted  that  she  would  be  only  too  glad  to 
be  made  a  queen,  for  she  was  very  poor.  But 
Zelia — that  was  her  name — answered,  to  his 
great  astonishment,  that  she  would  rather  not 
marry  him. 

"Do  I  displease  you?"  asked  the  prince,  into 
whose  mind  it  had  never  entered  that  he  could 
displease  anybody. 

"Not  at  all,  my  prince,"  said  the  honest 
peasant  maiden.  "You  are  very  handsome,  very 
charming;  but  you  are  not  like  your  father  the 
Good  King.  I  will  not  be  your  queen,  for  you 
would  make  me  miserable.'-2 

At  these  words  the  prince's  love  seemed  all  to 
turn  to  hatred :  he  gave  orders  to  his  guards  to 
convey  Zelia  to  a  prison  near  the  palace,  and 
then  took  counsel  with  his  foster  brother,  the  one 
of  all  his  ill  companions  who  most  incited  him  to 
do  wrong. 

"Sir,"  said  this  man,  "if  I  were  in  your  ma- 
jesty's place,  I  would  never  vex  myself  about  a 
poor  silly  girL  Feed  her  on  bread  and  water  till 
she  comes  to  her  senses ;  and  if  she  still  refuses 
you,  let  her  die  in  torment,  as  a  warning  to  your 
other  subjects  should  they  venture  to  dispute 

[186] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  FRINGE 

your  will.  You  will  be  disgraced  should  you 
suffer  yourself  to  be  conquered  by  a  simple 
girl." 

"But,"  said  Prince  Cherry,  "shall  I  not  be 
disgraced  if  I  harm  a  creature  so  perfectly 
innocent?" 

"No  one  is  innocent  who  disputes  your  ma- 
jesty's authority,"  said  the  courtier,  bowing; 
"and  it  is  better  to  commit  an  injustice  than 
allow  it  to  be  supposed  you  can  ever  be  contra- 
dicted with  impunity." 

This  touched  Cherry  on  his  weak  point — his 
good  impulses  faded;  he  resolved  once  more  to 
ask  Zelia  if  she  would  marry  him,  and  if  she 
again  refused,  to  sell  her  as  a  slave.  Arrived  at 
the  cell  in  which  she  was  confined,  what  was  his 
astonishment  to  find  her  gone!  He  knew  not 
whom  to  accuse,  for  he  had  kept  the  key  in  his 
pocket  the  whole  time.  At  last,  the  foster- 
brother  suggested  that  the  escape  of  Zelia  might 
have  been  contrived  by  an  old  man,  Suliman  by 
name,  the  prince's  former  tutor,  who  was  the 
only  one  who  now  ventured  to  blame  him  for 
anything  that  he  did.  Cherry  sent  immediately, 
and  ordered  his  old  friend  to  be  brought  to  him, 
loaded  heavily  with  irons.  Then,  full  of  fury, 
he  went  and  shut  himself  up  in  his  own  chamber, 

[1871 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

where  lie  went  raging  to  and  fro,  till  startled  by 
a  noise  like  a  clap  of  thunder.  The  fairy  Can- 
dide  stood  before  him. 

"Prince,"  said  she,  in  a  severe  voice,  "I 
promised  your  father  to  give  you  good  counsels 
and  to  punish  you  if  you  refused  to  follow  them. 
My  counsels  were  forgotten,  my  punishment  de- 
spised. Under  the  figure  of  a  man,  you  have 
been  no  better  than  the  beasts  you  chase :  like  a 
lion  in  fury,  a  wolf  in  gluttony,  a  serpent  in  re- 
venge, and  a  bull  in  brutality.  Take,  therefore, 
in  your  new  form  the  likeness  of  all  these 
animals." 

Scarcely  had  Prince  Cherry  heard  these 
words  than  to  his  horror  he  found  himself  trans- 
formed into  what  the  Fairy  had  named.  He 
was  a  creature  with  the  head  of  a  lion,  the  horns 
of  a  bull,  the  feet  of  a  wolf,  and  the  tail  of  a 
serpent.  At  the  same  time  he  felt  himself 
transported  to  a  distant  forest,  where,  standing 
on  the  bank  of  a  stream,  he  saw  reflected  in  the 
water  his  own  frightful  shape,  and  heard  a 
voice  saying: 

"Look  at  thyself,  and  know  thy  soul  has  be- 
come a  thousand  times  uglier  even  than  thy 
body." 

Cherry  recognized  the  voice  of  Candide,  and 

[188] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

in  his  rage  would  have  sprung  upon  her  and  de- 
voured her;  but  he  saw  nothing  and  the  same 
voice  said  behind  him : 

"Cease  thy  feeble  fury,  and  learn  to  conquer 
thy  pride  by  being  in  submission  to  thine  own 
subjects." 

Hearing  no  more,  he  soon  quitted  the  stream, 
hoping  at  least  to  get  rid  of  the  sight  of  himself ; 
but  he  had  scarcely  gone  twenty  paces  when  he 
tumbled  into  a  pitfall  that  was  laid  to  catch 
bears;  the  bear-hunters,  descending  from  some 
trees  hard  by,  caught  him,  chained  him,  and 
only  too  delighted  to  get  hold  of  such  a  curious- 
looking  animal,  led  him  along  with  them  to  the 
capital  of  his  own  kingdom. 

There  great  rejoicings  were  taking  place,  and 
the  bear-hunters,  asking  what  it  was  all  about, 
were  told  that  it  was  because  Prince  Cherry,  the 
torment  of  his  subjects,  had  just  been  struck 
dead  by  a  thunderbolt — just  punishment  of  all 
his  crimes.  Four  courtiers,  his  wicked  compan- 
ions, had  wished  to  divide  his  throne  between 
them ;  but  the  people  had  risen  up  against  them 
and  offered  the  crown  to  Suliman,  the  old  tutor 
whom  Cherry  had  ordered  to  be  arrested. 

All  this  the  poor  monster  heard.  He  even  saw 
Suliman  sitting  upon  his  own  throne  and  trying 

[189] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

to  calm  the  populace  by  representing  to  them 
that  it  was  not  certain  Prince  Cherry  was  dead ; 
that  he  might  return  one  day  to  reassume  with 
honor  the  crown  which  Suliman  only  consented 
to  wear  as  a  sort  of  viceroy. 

"I  know  his  heart,"  said  the  honest  and 
faithful  old  man ;  "it  is  tainted,  but  not  corrupt. 
If  alive,  he  may  reform  yet,  and  be  all  his  father 
over  again  to  you,  his  people,  whom  he  has  caused 
to  suffer  so  much." 

These  words  touched  the  poor  beast  so  deeply 
that  he  ceased  to  beat  himself  against  the  iron 
bars  of  the  cage  in  which  the  hunters  carried  him 
about,  became  gentle  as  a  lamb,  and  suffered 
himself  to  be  taken  quietly  to  a  menagerie, 
where  were  kept  all  sorts  of  strange  and  fero- 
cious animals — a  place  which  he  had  himself 
often  visited  as  a  boy,  but  never  thought  he 
should  be  shut  up  there  himself. 

However,  he  owned  he  had  deserved  it  all,  and 
began  to  make  amends  by  showing  himself  very 
obedient  to  his  keeper.  This  man  was  almost  as 
great  a  brute  as  the  animals  he  had  charge  of, 
and  when  he  was  in  ill  humor  he  used  to  beat 
them  without  rhyme  or  reason.  One  day,  while 
he  was  sleeping,  a  tiger  broke  loose  and  leaped 
upon  him,  eager  to  devour  him.  Cherry  at  first 

[190] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

felt  a  thrill  of  pleasure  at  the  thought  of  being 
revenged ;  then,  seeing  how  helpless  the  man  was, 
he  wished  himself  free,  that  he  might  defend 
him.  Immediately  the  doors  of  his  cage  opened. 
The  keeper,  waking  up,  saw  the  strange  beast 
leap  out,  and  imagined,  of  course,  that  he  was 
going  to  be  slain  at  once.  Instead,  he  saw  the 
tiger  lying  dead,  and  the  strange  beast  creeping 
lip  and  laying  itself  at  his  feet  to  be  caressed. 
But  as  he  lifted  up  his  hand  to  stroke  it,  a  voice 
was  heard  saying,  "Good  actions  never  go  unre- 
warded;" and  instead  of  the  frightful  monster, 
there  crouched  on  the  ground  nothing  but  a 
pretty  little  dog. 

Cherry,  delighted  to  find  himself  thus  meta- 
morphosed, caressed  the  keeper  in  every  possible 
way,  till  at  last  the  man  took  him  up  into  his 
arms  and  carried  him  to  the  king,  to  whom  he 
related  this  wonderful  story,  from  beginning  to 
end.  The  queen  wished  to  have  the  charming 
little  dog ;  and  Cherry  would  have  been  exceed- 
ingly happy  could  he  have  forgotten  that  he  was 
originally  a  man  and  a  king.  He  was  lodged 
most  elegantly,  had  the  richest  of  collars  to  adorn 
his  neck,  and  heard  himself  praised  continually. 
But  his  beauty  rather  brought  him  into  trouble, 
for  the  queen,  afraid  lest  he  might  grow  too 

[191] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

large  for  a  pet,  took  advice  of  dog-doctors,  who 
ordered  that  he  should  be  fed  entirely  upon 
bread,  and  that  very  sparingly ;  so  poor  Cherry 
was  sometimes  nearly  starved. 

One  day,  when  they  gave  him  his  crust  for 
breakfast,  a  fancy  seized  him  to  go  and  eat  it  in 
the  palace  garden;  so  he  took  the  bread  in  his 
mouth  and  trotted  away  toward  a  stream  which 
he  knew,  and  where  he  sometimes  stopped  to 
drink.  But  instead  of  the  stream  he  saw  a 
splendid  palace,  glittering  with  gold  and  pre- 
cious stones.  Entering  the  doors  was  a  crowd  of 
men  and  women,  magnificently  dressed;  and 
within  there  was  singing  and  dancing  and  good 
cheer  of  all  sorts.  Yet,  however  grandly  and 
gayly  the  people  went  in,  Cherry  noticed  that 
those  who  came  out  were  pale,  thin,  ragged, 
half-naked,  covered  with  wounds  and  sores. 
Some  of  them  dropped  dead  at  once;  others 
dragged  themselves  on  a  little  way  and  then  lay 
down,  dying  of  hunger,  and  vainly  begged  a 
morsel  of  bread  from  others  who  were  entering 
in — who  never  took  the  least  notice  of  them. 

Cherry  perceived  one  woman,  who  was  trying 
feebly  to  gather  and  eat  some  green  herbs. 
"Poor  thing !"  said  he  to  himself;  "I  know  what 
it  is  to  be  hungry,  and  I  want  my  breakfast 

[192] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

badly  enough;  but  still  it  will  kill  me  to  wait 
till  dinner  time,  and  my  crust  may  save  the  life 
of  this  poor  woman. " 

So  the  little  dog  ran  up  to  her  and  dropped 
his  bread  at  her  feet ;  she  picked  it  up  and  ate  it 
with  avidity.  Soon  she  looked  quite  recovered, 
and  Cherry,  delighted,  was  trotting  back  again 
to  his  kennel,  when  he  heard  loud  cries,  and  saw 
a  young  girl  dragged  by  four  men  to  the  door  of 
the  palace,  which  they  were  trying  to  compel 
her  to  enter.  Oh,  how  he  wished  himself  a  mon- 
ster again,  as  when  he  slew  the  tiger! — for  the 
young  girl  was  no  other  than  his  beloved  Zelia. 
Alas !  what  could  a  poor  little  dog  do  to  defend 
her?  But  he  ran  forward  and  barked  at  the 
men,  and  bit  their  heels,  until  at  last  they  chased 
him  away  with  heavy  blows.  And  then  he  lay 
down  outside  the  palace  door,  determined  to 
watch  and  see  what  had  become  of  Zelia. 

Conscience  pricked  him  now.  "What!" 
thought  he,  "I  am  furious  against  these  wicked 
men,  who  are  carrying  her  away ;  and  did  I  not 
do  the  same  myself?  Did  I  not  cast  her  into 
prison,  and  intend  to  sell  her  as  a  slave  ?  Who 
knows  how  much  more  wickedness  I  might  not 
have  done  to  her  and  others,  if  Heaven's  justice 
had  not  stopped  me  in  time?" 

[193] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

While  he  lay  thinking  and  repenting,  he  heard 
a  window  open  and  saw  Zelia  throw  out  of  it  a 
bit  of  dainty  meat.  Cherry,  who  felt  hungry 
enough  by  this  time,  was  just  about  to  eat  it, 
when  the  woman  to  whom  he  had  given  his  crust 
snatched  him  up  in  her  arms. 

"Poor  little  beast!"  cried  she,  patting  him, 
"every  bit  of  food  in  that  palace  is  poisoned: 
you  shall  not  touch  a  morsel." 

And  at  the  same  time  the  voice  in  the  air  re- 
peated again,  "Good  actions  never  go  unre- 
warded;" and  Cherry  found  himself  changed 
into  a  beautiful  little  white  pigeon.  He  remem- 
bered with  joy  that  white  was  the  color  of  the 
fairy  Candide,  and  began  to  hope  that  she  was 
taking  him  into  favor  again. 

So  he  stretched  his  wings,  delighted  that  he 
might  now  have  a  chance  of  approaching  his 
fair  Zelia.  He  flew  up  to  the  palace  windows, 
and,  finding  one  of  them  open,  entered  and 
sought  everywhere,  but  he  could  not  find  Zelia. 
Then,  in  despair,  he  flew  out  again,  resolved  to 
go  over  the  world  until  he  beheld  her  once  more. 

He  took  flight  at  once  and  traversed  many 
countries,  swiftly  as  a  bird  can,  but  found  no 
trace  of  his  beloved.  At  length  in  a  desert,  sit- 
ting beside  an  old  hermit  in  his  cave  and  par- 

[1941 


4.  ^S,S\  °      . 

•     a     ' 

Cherry  saw  the  poor  peasant  girl  and  recognized  Zelia, 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

taking  with  him  his  frugal  repast,  Cherry  saw 
a  poor  peasant  girl  and  recognized  Zelia.  Trans- 
ported with  joy,  he  flew  in,  perched  on  her 
shoulder,  and  expressed  his  delight  and  affection 
by  a  thousand  caresses. 

She,  charmed  with  the  pretty  little  pigeon, 
caressed  it  in  her  turn,  and  promised  it  that  if  it 
would  stay  with  her  she  would  love  it  always. 

"What  have  you  done,  Zelia?"  said  the  her- 
mit, smiling ;  and  while  he  spoke  the  white  pigeon 
vanished,  and  there  stood  Prince  Cherry  in  his 
own  natural  form.  "Your  enchantment  ended, 
prince,  when  Zelia  promised  to  love  you.  In- 
deed, she  has  loved  you  always,  but  your  many 
faults  constrained  her  to  hide  her  love.  These 
are  now  amended,  and  you  may  both  live  happy 
if  you  will,  because  your  union  is  founded  upon 
mutual  esteem.2' 

Cherry  and  Zelia  threw  themselves  at  the  feet 
of  the  hermit,  whose  form  also  began  to  change. 
His  soiled  garments  became  of  dazzling  white- 
ness, and  his  long  beard  and  withered  face  grew 
into  the  flowing  hair  and  lovely  countenance  of 
the  fairy  Candida. 

"Rise  up,  my  children,"  said  she:  "I  must 
now  transport  you  to  your  palace  and  restore  to 

[195] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

Prince  Cherry  his  father's  crown,  of  which  be 
is  now  worthy." 

She  had  scarcely  ceased  speaking  when  they 
found  themselves  in  the  chamber  of  Suliman, 
who,  delighted  to  find  again  his  beloved  pupil 
and  master,  willingly  resigned  the  throne,  and 
became  the  most  faithful  of  his  subjects. 

King  Cherry  and  Queen  Zelia  reigned  to- 
gether for  many  years,  and  it  is  said  that  the 
former  was  so  blameless  and  strict  in  all  hig 
duties  that  though  he  constantly  wore  the  ring 
which  Candide  had  restored  to  him,  it  never 
once  pricked  his  finger  enough  to  make  it  bleed. 


THE  PRINCE  WITH  THE  NOSE 


THE  PRINCE  WITH  THE  NOSE 


*^HERE  was  once  a  king  who  was 
passionately  in  love  with  a  beautiful 
princess,  but  she  could  not  be  married 
because  a  magican  had  enchanted  her. 
The  king  went  to  a  good  fairy  to  inquire  what  he 
should  do.  Said  the  fairy,  after  receiving  him 
graciously:  "Sir,  I  will  tell  you  a  great  secret. 
The  princess  has  a  great  cat  wrhom  she  loves  so 
well  that  she  cares  for  nothing  and  nobody  else ; 
but  she  will  be  obliged  to  marry  any  person  who 
is  adroit  enough  to  walk  upon  the  cat's  tail." 

"That  will  not  be  very  difficult,"  thought  the 
king  to  himself,  and  departed,  resolving  to 
trample  the  cat's  tail  to  pieces  rather  than  not 
succeed  in  walking  upon  it.  He  went  immedi- 
ately to  the  palace  of  his  fair  mistress  and  the 
cat ;  the  animal  came  in  front  of  him,  arching  its 
back  in  anger  as  it  was  wont  to  do.  The  king 
lifted  up  his  foot,  thinking  nothing  would  be  so 
easy  as  to  tread  on  the  tail,  but  he  found  him- 
self mistaken.  Minon — that  was  the  creature's 
name — twisted  itself  round  so  sharply  that  the 
king  only  hurt  his  own  foot  by  stamping  on  the 

(920,  [1971 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

floor.  For  eight  days  did  he  pursue  the  cat 
everywhere:  up  and  down  the  palace  he  was 
after  it  from  morning  till  night,  but  with  no  bet- 
ter success ;  the  tail  seemed  made  of  quicksilver, 
so  very  lively  was  it.  At  last  the  king  had  the 
good  fortune  to  catch  Minon  sleeping,  when 
tramp!  tramp!  he  trod  on  the  tail  with  all  his 
force. 

Minon  woke  up,  mewed  horribly,  and  immedi- 
ately changed  from  a  cat  into  a  large,  fierce- 
looking  man,  who  regarded  the  king  with  flash- 
ing eyes. 

"You  must  marry  the  princess,"  cried  he, 
"because  you  have  broken  the  enchantment  in 
which  I  held  her ;  but  I  will  be  revenged  on  you. 
You  shall  have  a  son  with  a  nose  as  long  as — 
that ;"  he  made  in  the  air  a  curve  of  half  a  foot ; 
"yet  he  shall  believe  it  is  just  like  all  other  noses, 
and  shall  be  always  unfortunate  till  he  has  found 
out  it  is  not.  And  if  you  ever  tell  anybody  of 
this  threat  of  mine,  you  shall  die  on  the  spot/-3 
So  saying  the  magician  disappeared. 

The  king,  who  was  at  first  much  terrified,  soon 
began  to  laugh  at  this  adventure.  "My  son 
might  have  a  worse  misfortune  than  too  long  a 
nose,1'-'  thought  he.  "At  least  it  will  hinder  him 

[198] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

neither  in  seeing  nor  hearing.  I  will  go  and  find 
the  princess  and  many  her  at  once/' 

He  did  so,  but  he  only  lived  a  few  months  af- 
ter, and  died  before  his  little  son  was  born,  so 
that  nobody  knew  anything  about  the  secret  of 
the  nose. 

The  little  prince  was  so  much  wished  for  that 
when  he  came  into  the  world  they  agreed  to 
call  him  Prince  Wish.  He  had  beautiful  blue 
eyes  and  a  sweet  little  mouth,  but  his  nose  was 
so  big  that  it  covered  half  his  face.  The  queen, 
his  mother,  was  inconsolable;  but  her  ladies 
tried  to  satisfy  her  by  telling  her  that  the  nose 
was  not  nearly  so  large  as  it  seemed,  that  it  would 
grow  smaller  as  the  prince  grew  bigger,  and  that 
if  it  did  not  a  large  nose  was  indispensable  to  a 
hero.  All  great  soldiers,  they  said,  had  great 
noses,  as  everybody  knew.  The  queen  was  so 
very  fond  of  her  son  that  she  listened  eagerly  to 
all  this  comfort.  Shortly  she  grew  so  used  to 
the  princes 's  nose  that  it  did  not  seem  to  her  any 
larger  than  ordinary  noses  of  the  court ;  where, 
in  process  of  time,  everybody  with  a  long  nose 
was  very  much  admired,  and  the  unfortunate 
people  who  had  only  snubs  were  taken  very  little 
notice  of. 

Great  care  was  observed  in  the  education  of 

[199] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

the  prince ;  and  as  soon  as  he  could  speak  they 
told  him  all  sorts  of  amusing  tales,  in  which  all 
the  bad  people  had  short  noses,  and  all  the  good 
people  had  long  ones.  No  person  was  suffered  to 
come  near  him  who  had  not  a  nose  of  more  than 
ordinary  length ;  nay,  to  such  an  extent  did  the 
countries  carry  their  fancy,  that  the  noses  of  all 
the  little  babies  were  ordered  to  be  pulled  out  as 
far  as  possible  several  times  a  day,  in  order  to 
make  them  grow.  But  grow  as  they  would,  they 
never  could  grow  as  long  as  that  of  Prince  Wish. 
When  he  was  old  enough  his  tutor  taught  him 
history ;  and  whenever  any  great  king  or  lovely 
princess  was  referred  to,  the  tutor  always  took 
care  to  mention  that  he  or  she  had  a  long  nose. 
All  the  royal  apartments  were  filled  with  pic- 
tures and  portraits  having  this  peculiarity,  so 
that  at  last  Prince  Wish  began  to  regard  the 
length  of  his  nose  as  his  greatest  perfection,  and 
would  not  have  had  it  an  inch  less  even  to  save 
his  crown. 

When  he  was  twenty  years  old  his  mother  and 
his  people  wished  him  to  marry.  They  procured 
for  him  the  likenesses  of  many  princesses,  but 
the  one  he  preferred  was  Princess  Darling, 
daughter  of  a  powerful  monarch  and  heiress  to 
.several  kingdoms.  Alas  I  with  all  her  beauty, 

[200] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

this  princess  had  one  great  misfortune,  a  little 
turned-up  nose,  which,  every  one  else  said  made 
her  only  the  more  bewitching.  But  here,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Prince  Wish,  the  courtiers  were 
thrown  by  it  into  the  utmost  perplexity.  They 
were  in  the  habit  of  laughing  at  all  small  noses ; 
but  how  dared  they  make  fun  of  the  nose  of 
Princess  Darling  ?  Two  unfortunate  gentlemen, 
whom  Prince  "Wish  had  overheard  doing  so, 
were  ignominiously  banished  from  the  court  and 
capital. 

After  this,  the  courtiers  became  alarmed,  and 
tried  to  correct  their  habit  of  speech;  but  they 
would  have  found  themselves  in  constant  diffi- 
culties, had  not  one  clever  person  struck  out  a 
bright  idea.  He  said  that  though  it  was  indis- 
pensably necessary  for  a  man  to  have  a  great 
nose,  women  were  very  different;  and  that  a 
learned  man  had  discovered  in  a  very  old  manu- 
script that  the  celebrated  Cleopatra,  Queen  of 
Egypt,  the  beauty  of  the  ancient  world,  had  a 
turned-up  nose.  At  this  information  Prince 
Wish  was  so  delighted  that  he  made  the  courtier 
a  very  handsome  present,  and  immediately  sent 
off  ambassadors  to  demand  Princess  Darling  in 
marriage. 

She  accepted  his  offer  at  once,  and  returned 

[201] 


THE  LITTLE   LAME    PRINCE 

with  the  ambassadors.  He  made  all  haste  to 
meet  and  welcome  her,  but  when  she  was  only 
three  leagues  distant  from  his  capital,  before  he 
had  time  even  to  kiss  her  hand,  the  magician 
who  had  once  assumed  the  shape  of  his  mother's 
cat,  Minon,  appeared  in  the  air  and  carried  her 
off  before  the  lover's  very  eyes. 

Prince  Wish,  almost  beside  himself  with  grief, 
declared  that  nothing  should  induce  him  to  re- 
turn to  his  throne  and  kingdom  till  he  had  found 
Darling.  He  would  suffer  none  of  his  courtiers 
or  attendants  to  follow  him;  but  bidding  them 
all  adieu,  mounted  a  good  horse,  laid  the  reins  on 
the  animal's  neck,  and  let  him  take  him  wher- 
ever he  would. 

The  horse  entered  a  wide-extended  plain,  and 
trotted  on  steadily  the  whole  day  without  finding 
a  single  house.  Master  and  beast  began  almost 
to  faint  with  hunger;  and  Prince  Wish  might 
have  wished  himself  at  home  again,  had  he  not 
discovered,  just  at  dusk,  a  cavern,  where  there 
sat,  beside  a  bright  lantern,  a  little  woman  who 
might  have  been  more  than  a  hundred  years  old. 

She  put  on  her  spectacles  the  better  to  look 
at  the  stranger,  and  he  noticed  that  her  nose  was 
so  small  that  the  spectacles  would  hardly  stay 

[202] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

on ;  then  the  prince  and  the  fairy — for  she  was  a 
fairy — burst  into  laughter. 

"What  a  funny  nose!"  cried  the  one. 

"Not  so  funny  as  yours,  madam,"  returned 
the  other.  "But  pray  let  us  leave  our  noses 
alone,  and  be  good  enough  to  give  me  something 
to  eat,  for  I  am  dying  with  hunger,  and  so  is  my 
poor  horse." 

"With  all  my  heart,"  answered  the  fairy. 
"Although  your  nose  is  ridiculously  long,  you 
are  no  less  the  son  of  one  .of  my  best  friends.  I 
loved  your  father  like  a  brother ;  he  had  a  very 
handsome  nose." 

"What  is  wanting  to  my  nose?"  asked  Wish 
rather  savagely. 

"  Oh !  nothing  at  all.  On  the  contrary,  there  is 
a  great  deal  too  much  of  it ;  but  never  mind,  one 
may  be  a  very  honest  man,  and  yet  have  too  big 
a  nose.  As  I  said,  I  was  a  great  friend  of  your 
father's;  he  came  often  to  see  me.  I  was  very 
pretty  then,  and  oftentimes  he  used  to  say  to  me, 
'My  sister l  ?: 

"I  will  hear  the  rest,  madam,  with  pleasure, 
when  I  have  supped ;  but  will  you  condescend  to 
remember  that  I  have  tasted  nothing  all  day?" 

"Poor  boy,"  said  the  fairy,  "I  will  give  you 
some  supper  directly ;  and  while  you  eat  it  I  will 

[203] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

tell  you  my  history  in  six  words,  for  I  hate 
much  talking.  A  long  tongue  is  as  insupportable 
as  a  long  nose;  and  I  remember  when  I  was 
young  how  much  I  used  to  be  admired  because  I 
was  not  a  talker;  indeed,  some  one  said  to  the 
queen  my  mother — for  poor  as  you  see  me  now, 
I  am  the  daughter  of  a  great  king,  who 
always " 

"Ate  when  he  was  hungry,  I  hope,"  inter- 
rupted the  prince,  whose  patience  was  fast  de- 
parting. 

"You  are  right,"  said  the  imperturbable  old 
fairy;  "and  I  will,  bring  you  your  supper  di- 
rectly, only  I  wish  first  just  to  say  that  the  king 
my  father " 

"Hang  the  king  your  father!'-2  Prince  Wish 
was  about  to  exclaim,  but  he  stopped  himself, 
and  only  observed  that  however  the  pleasure  of 
her  conversation  might  make  him  forget  his 
hunger,  it  could  not  have  the  same  effect  upon 
his  horse,  who  was  really  starving. 

The  fairy,  pleased  at  his  civility,  called  her 
servants  and  bade  them  supply  him  at  once  with 
all  he  needed.  "And,"  added  she,  "I  must  say 
you  are  very  polite  and  very  good-tempered,  in 
spite  of  your  nose." 

"What  has  the  old  woman  to  do  with  my 

[204] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

nose?"  thought  the  prince.  "If  I  were  not  so 
very  hungry,  I  would  soon  show  her  what  she  is 
— a  regular  old  gossip  and  chatterbox.  She  to 
fancy  she  talks  little,  indeed !  One  must  be  very 
foolish  not  to  know  one's  own  defects.  This 
comes  of  being  born  a  princess.  Flatterers  have 
spoiled  her  and  persuaded  her  that  she  talks 
little.  Little,  indeed!  I  never  knew  anybody 
chatter  so  much." 

While  the  prince  thus  meditated,  the  servants 
were  laying  the  table,  the  fairy  asking  them  a 
hundred  unnecessary  questions,  simply  for  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  herself  talk.  "Well,2' 
thought  Wish,  "I  am  delighted  that  I  came 
hither,  if  only  to  learn  how  wise  I  have  been  in 
never  listening  to  flatterers,  who  hide  from  us 
our  faults,  or  make  us  believe  they  are  perfec- 
tions. But  they  could  never  deceive  me.  I  know 
all  my  own  weak  points,  I  trust."  As  truly  he 
believed  he  did. 

So  he  went  on  eating  contentedly,  nor  stopped 
till  the  old  fairy  began  to  address  him. 

"Prince,"  said  she,  "will  you  be  kind  enough 
to  turn  a  little  1  Your  nose  casts  such  a  shadow 
that  I  cannot  see  what  is  on  my  plate.  And,  as 
I  was  saying,  your  father  admired  me  and  al- 
ways made  me  welcome  at  court.  What  is  the 

[205] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

court  etiquette  there  now?  Do  the  ladies  still 
go  to  assemblies,  promenades,  balls  ? — I  beg  your 
pardon  for  laughing,  but  how  very  long  your 


nose  is.' 


"I  wish  you  would  cease  to  speak  of  my  nose," 
said  the  prince,  becoming  annoyed.  "It  is  what 
it  is,  and  I  do  not  desire  it  any  shorter." 

"Oh!  I  see  that  I  have  vexed  you,"  returned 
the  fairy.  "  Nevertheless,  I  am  one  of  your  best 
friends,  and  so  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  al- 
ways  "  She  would  doubtless  have  gone  on 

talking  till  midnight ;  but  the  prince,  unable  to 
bear  it  any  longer,  here  interrupted  her,  thanked 
her  for  her  hospitality,  bade  her  a  hasty  adieu, 
and  rode  away. 

He  traveled  for  a  long  time,  half  over  the 
world,  but  he  heard  no  news  of  Princess  Dar- 
ling. However,  in  each  place  he  went  to,  he 
heard  one  remarkable  fact — the  great  length  of 
his  own  nose.  The  little  boys  in  the  streets 
jeered  at  him,  the  peasants  stared  at  him,  and  the 
more  polite  ladies  and  gentlemen  whom  he  met 
in  society  used  to  try  in  vain  to  keep  from  laugh- 
ing, and  to  get  out  of  his  way  as  soon  as  they 
could.  So  the  poor  prince  became  gradually 
quite  forlorn  and  solitary;  he  thought  all  the 
world  was  mad,  but  still  he  never  thought  of 

[206] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

there  being  anything  queer  about  his  own  nose. 

At  last  the  old  fairy,  who,  though  she  was  a 
chatterbox,  was  very  good-natured,  saw  that  he 
was  almost  breaking  his  heart.  She  felt  sorry 
for  him  and  wished  to  help  him  in  spite  of  him- 
self, for  she  knew  the  enchantment  which  hid 
from  him  the  Princess  Darling  could  never  be 
broken  till  he  had  discovered  his  own  defect. 
So  she  went  in  search  of  the  princess,  and  being 
more  powerful  than  the  magician,  since  she  was 
a  good  fairy  and  he  was  an  evil  magician,  she  got 
her  away  from  him  and  shut  her  up  in  a  palace 
of  crystal,  which  she  placed  on  the  road  which 
Prince  Wish  had  to  pass. 

He  was  riding  along,  very  melancholy,  when 
he  saw  the  palace;  and  at  its  entrance  was  a 
room,  made  of  the  purest  glass,  in  which  sat  his 
beloved  princess,  smiling  and  beautiful  as  ever. 
He  leaped  from  his  horse  and  ran  toward  her. 
She  held  out  her  hand  for  him  to  kiss,  but  he 
could  not  get  at  it  for  the  glass.  Transported 
with  eagerness  and  delight,  he  dashed  his  sword 
through  the  crystal  and  succeeded  in  breaking  a 
small  opening,  to  which  she  put  up  her  beautiful 
rosy  mouth.  But  it  was  in  vain;  Prince  Wish 
could  not  approach  it.  He  twisted  his  neck 
about,  and  turned  his  head  on  all  sides,  till  at 

[207] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

length,  putting  up  his  hand  to  his  face,  he  dis- 
covered the  impediment. 

"It  must  be  confessed,"  exclaimed  he,  "that 
my  nose  is  too  long." 

That  moment  the  glass  walls  all  split  asunder, 
and  the  old  fairy  appeared,  leading  Princess 
Darling. 

"Avow,  prince,"  said  she,  "that  you  are  very 
much  obliged  to  me,  for  now  the  enchantment  is 
ended.  You  may  marry  the  object  of  your 
choice.  But,"  added  she,  smiling,  "I  fear  I 
might  have  talked  to  you  forever  on  the  subject 
of  your  nose,  and  you  would  not  have  believed 
me  in  its  length,  till  it  became  an  obstacle  to  your 
own  inclinations.  Now  behold  it !"  and  she  held 
up  a  crystal  mirror.  "Are  you  satisfied  to  be 
no  different  from  other  people?" 

"Perfectly,"  said  Prince  Wish,  who  found 
his  nose  had  shrunk  to  an  ordinary  length.  And 
taking  the  Princess  Darling  by  the  hand,  he 
kissed  her  courteously,  affectionately,  and  satis- 
factorily. Then  they  departed  to  their  own 
country,  and  lived  very  happily  all  their  days. 


[2081 


THE  FKOG-PEINCE 

IN  times  of  yore,  when  wishes  were  both 
heard  and  granted,  lived  a  king  whose 
daughters  were  all  beautiful  but  the  young- 
est was  so  lovely  that  the  sun  himself,  who 
has  seen  so  much,  wondered  at  her  beauty  every 
time  he  looked  in  her  face.  Now,  near  the  king's 
castle  was  a  large  dark  forest ;  and  in  the  forest, 
under  an  old  linden  tree,  was  a  deep  well.  When 
the  day  was  very  hot,  the  king's  daughter  used 
to  go  to  the  wood  and  seat  herself  at  the  edge  of 
the  cool  well ;  and  when  she  became  wearied,  she 
would  take  a  golden  ball,  throw  it  up  in  the  air, 
and  catch  it  again.  This  was  her  favorite  amuse- 
ment. Once  it  happened  that  her  golden  ball, 
instead  of  falling  back  into  the  little  hand  that 
she  stretched  out  for  it,  dropped  on  the  ground, 
and  immediately  rolled  away  into  the  water. 
The  king's  daughter  followed  it  with  her  eyes, 
but  the  ball  had  vanished,  and  the  well  was  so 
deep  that  no  one  could  see  down  to  the  bottom. 
Then  she  began  to  weep,  wept  louder  and  louder 
every  minute,  and  could  not  console  herself  at 
all.  * 

[209] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

While  she  was  thus  lamenting  some  one  called 
to  her:  "What  is  the  matter  with  you,  king's 
daughter?  You  weep  so  that  you  would  touch 
the  heart  of  a  stone." 

She  looked  around  to  see  whence  the  voice 
came,  and  saw  a  frog  stretching  his  thick  ugly 
head  out  of  the  water. 

"Ah!  it  is  you,  old  water-paddler!"  said  she. 
"I  am  crying  for  my  golden  hall,  which  has 
fallen  into  the.  well.12' 

"Be  content,"  answered  the  frog;  "I  dare  say 
I  can  give  you  some  good  advice ;  but  what  will 
you  give  me  if  I  bring  back  your  plaything  to 
you?" 

"Whatever  you  like,  dear  frog,"  said  she, 
"my  clothes,  my  pearls  and  jewels,  even  the 
golden  crown  I  wear." 

The  frog  answered,  "Your  clothes,  your 
pearls  and  jewels,  even  your  golden  crown,  I  do 
not  care  for ;  but  if  you  will  love  me,  and  let  me 
be  your  companion  and  play-fellow,  sit  near  you 
at  your  little  table,  eat  from  your  little  golden 
plate,  drink  from  your  little  cup,  and  sleep  in 
your  little  bed — if  you  will  promise  me  this, 
then  I  will  bring  you  back  your  golden  ball  from 
the  bottom  of  the  well." 

"Oh,  yes!"  said  she;  "I  promise  you  every- 

[210] 


water-paddler." 


thing,  if  you  will  only  bring  me  back  my  golden 
ball.'-' 

She  thought  to  herself,  meanwhile:  "What 
nonsense  the  silly  frog  talks!  He  sits  in  the 
water  with  the  other  frogs,  and  croaks,  and  can- 
not be  anybody's  playfellow!" 

But  the  frog,  as  soon  as  he  had  received  the 
promise  dipped  his  head  under  the  water  and 
sank  down.  In  a  little  while  up  he  came  again 
with  the  ball  in  his  mouth,  and  threw  it  on  the 
grass.  The  king's  daughter  was  overjoyed  when 
she  beheld  her  pretty  plaything  again,  picked  it 
up,  and  ran  away  with  it. 

"Wait!  wait!"  cried  the  frog;  "take  me  with 
you.  I  cannot  run  as  fast  as  you." 

Alas !  of  what  use  was  it  that  he  croaked  after 
her  as  loud  as  he  could.  She  would  not  listen  to 
him,  but  hastened  home,  and  soon  forgot  the  poor 
frog,  who  was  obliged  to  plunge  again  to  the 
bottom  of  his  well. 

The  next  day,  when  she  was  sitting  at  dinner 
with  the  king  and  all  the  courtiers,  eating  from 
her  little  gold  plate,  there  came  a  sound  of  some- 
thing creeping  up  the  marble  staircase — splish, 
splash;  and  when  it  had  reached  the  top,  it 
knocked  at  the  door  and  cried,  "Youngest  king's 
daughter,  open  to  me." 

[211] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

She  ran,  wishing  to  see  who  was  outside ;  but 
when  she  opened  the  door  and  there  sat  the  frog, 
she  flung  it  hastily  to  again  and  sat  down  at 
table,  feeling  very,  very  uncomfortable.  The 
king  saw  that  her  heart  was  beating  violently, 
and  said,  "How,  nay  child,  why  are  you  afraid? 
Is  a  giant  standing  outside  the  door  to  carry  you 
off?" 

"Oh,  no!"  answered  she,  "it  is  no  giant,  but  a 
nasty  frog,  who  yesterday,  when  I  was  playing 
in  the  wood  near  the  well,  fetched  my  golden  ball 
out  of  the  water.  For  this  I  promised  him  he 
should  be  my  companion,  but  I  never  thought  he 
could  come  out  of  his  well.  Now  he  is  at  the  door, 
and  wants  to  come  in." 

Again,  the  second  time  there  was  a  knock,  and 
a  voice  cried : 

"Youngest  king's  daughter, 

Open  to  me ; 
Know  you  what  yesterday 

You  promised  me, 
By  the  cool  water? 

Youngest  king's  daughter, 

Open  to  me." 

Then  said  the  king,  "What  you  promised  you 
must  perform.  Go  and  open  the  door." 

[2121 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

She  went  and  opened  the  door;  the  frog 
hopped  in,  always  following  and  following  her 
till  he  came  up  to  her  chair.  There  he  sat  and. 
cried  out,  ''Lift  me  up  to  you  on  the  table. " 

She  refused,  till  the  king,  her  father,  com- 
manded her  to  do  it.  When  the  frog  was  on  the 
table,  he  said,  "Now  push  your  little  golden  plate 
nearer  to  me,  that  we  may  eat  together.'3  She 
did  as  he  desired,  but  one  could  easily  see  that 
she  did  it  unwillingly.  The  frog  seemed  to  enjoy 
his  dinner  very  much,  but  every  morsel  she  ate 
stuck  in  the  throat  of  the  poor  little  princess. 

Then  said  the  frog,  "I  have  eaten  enough,  and 
am  tired ;  carry  me  to  your  little  room,  and  make 
your  little  silken  bed  smooth,  and  we  will  lay 
ourselves  down  to  sleep  together. " 

At  this  the  daughter  of  the  king  began  to 
weep ;  for  she  was  afraid  of  the  cold  frog,  who 
wanted  to  sleep  in  her  pretty  clean  bed. 

But  the  king  looked  angrily  at  her,  and  said 
again :  "What  you  have  promised  you  must  per- 
form. The  frog  is  your  companion. ' ' 

It  was  no  use  to  complain ;  whether  she  liked 
it  or  not,  she  was  obliged  to  take  the  frog  with 
her  up  to  her  little  bed.  So  she  picked  him  up 
with  two  fingers,  hating  him  bitterly  the  while, 
and  carried  him  upstairs :  but  when  she  got  into 

[213] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

bed,  instead  of  lifting  him  up  to  her,  she  threw 
him  with  all  her  strength  against  the  wall,  say- 
ing, "Now  you  nasty  frog,  there  will  be  an  end 
of  you." 

But  what  fell  down  from  the  wall  was  not  a 
dead  frog,  but  a  living  young  prince,  with  beauti- 
ful and  loving  eyes,  who  at  once  became,  by  her 
own  promise  and  her  father's  will,  her  dear 
companion  and  husband.  He  told  her  how  he 
had  been  cursed  by  a  wicked  sorceress,  and  that 
no  one  but  the  king's  youngest  daughter  could 
release  him  from  his  enchantment  and  take  him 
out  of  the  well. 

The  next  day  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the  palace 
gates  with  eight  white  horses,  having  white 
feathers  on  their  heads  and  golden  reins.  Be- 
hind it  stood  the  servant  of  the  young  prince, 
called  the  faithful  Henry.  This  faithful  Henry 
had  been  so  grieved  when  his  master  was  changed 
into  a  frog  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  have 
three  iron  bands  fastened  round  his  heart,  lest 
it  should  break.  Now  the  carriage  came  to  con- 
vey the  prince  to  his  kingdom,  so  the  faithful 
Henry  lifted  in  the  bride  and  bridegroom  and 
mounted  behind,  full  of  joy  at  his  lord's  release. 
But  when  they  had  gone  a  short  distance,  the 
prince  heard  behind  him  a  noise  as  if  something 

[214] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

was  breaking.  He  cried  out,  "  Henry,  the  car- 
riage is  breaking  i ' ' 

But  Henry  replied :  "No,  sir,  it  is  not  the  car- 
riage but  one  of  the  bands  from  my  heart,  with 
which  I  was  forced  to  bind  it  up,  or  it  would  have 
broken  with  grief  while  you  sat  as  a  frog  at  the 
bottom  of  the  well. ' ' 

Twice  again  this  happened,  and  the  prince  al- 
ways thought  the  carriage  was  breaking ;  but  it 
was  only  the  bands  breaking  off  from  the  heart 
of  the  faithful  Henry,  out  of  joy  that  his  lord, 
the  frog-prince,  was  a  frog  no  more. 


[215] 


CLEVER  ALICE 

NCE  upon  a  time  there  was  a  man  who 
had  a  daughter  who  was  called 
" Clever  Alice,"  and  when  she  was 
grown  up,  her  father  said,  "We  must 
see  about  her  marrying." 

"Yes,"  replied  her  mother,  "whenever  a 
young  man  shall  appear  who  is  worthy  of  her. ' ' 

At  last  a  certain  youth,  by  name  Hans,  came 
from  a  distance  to  make  a  proposal  of  marriage ; 
but  he  required  one  condition,  that  the  clever 
Alice  should  be  very  prudent. 

"Oh,"  said  her  father,  "no  fear  of  that!  she 
has  got  a  head  full  of  brains;"  and  the  mother 
added,  "ah,  she  can  see  the  wind  blow  up  the 
street,  and  hear  the  flies  cough ! ' ' 

"Very  well,"  replied  Hans;  "but  remember, 
if  she  is  not  very  prudent,  I  will  not  take  her." 
Soon  afterward  they  sat  down  to  dinner,  and  her 
mother  said,  "Alice,  go  down  into  the  cellar  and 
draw  some  beer." 

So  Clever  Alice  took  the  jug  down  from  the 
wall,  and  went  into  the  cellar,  jerking  the  lid 
up  and  down  on  her  way,  to  pass  away  the  time. 

[216] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

As  soon  as  she  got  downstairs  she  drew  a  stool 
and  placed  it  before  the  cask,  in  order  that  she 
might  not  have  to  stoop,  for  she  thought  stooping 
might  in  some  way  injure  her  back  and  give  it 
an  undesirable  bend.  Then  she  placed  the  can 
before  her  and  turned  the  tap,  and  while  the  beer 
was  running,  as  she  did  not  wish  her  eyes  to  be 
idle,  she  looked  about  upon  the  wall  above  and 
below.  Presently  she  perceived,  after  much 
peeping  into  this  corner  and  that  corner,  a 
hatchet,  which  the  bricklayers  had  left  behind, 
sticking  out  of  the  ceiling  right  above  her  head. 
At  the  sight  of  this  Clever  Alice  began  to  cry, 
saying,  "Oh!  if  I  marry  Hans,  and  we  have  a 
child,  and  he  grows  up,  and  we  send  him  into  the 
cellar  to  draw  beer,  the  hatchet  will  fall  upon  his 
head  and  kill  him, ' '  and  so  she  sat  there  weeping 
with  all  her  might  over  the  impending  misfor- 
tune. 

Meanwhile  the  good  folks  upstairs  were  wait- 
ing for  the  beer,  but  as  Clever  Alice  did  not 
come,  her  mother  told  the  maid  to  go  and  see 
what  she  was  stopping  for.  The  maid  went 
down  into  the  cellar  and  found  Alice  sitting  be- 
fore the  cask  crying  heartily,  and  she  asked, 
"  Alice,  what  are  you  weeping  about  T-8 

"Ah,'-*  she  replied,  "have  I  not  cause?    If  I 

[217] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

marry  Hans,  and  we  have  a  child,  and  he  grows 
up,  and  we  send  him  here  to  draw  beer,  that 
hatchet  will  fall  upon  his  head  and  kill  him. ' ' 

' '  Oh, ' '  said  the  maid,  ' '  what  a  clever  Alice  we 
have!"  And  sitting  down,  she  began  to  weep, 
too,  for  the  misfortune  that  was  to  happen. 

After  a  while,  when  the  servant  did  not  re- 
turn, the  good  folks  above  began  to  feel  very 
thirsty ;  so  the  husband  told  the  boy  to  go  down 
into  the  cellar  and  see  wrhat  had  become  of  Alice 
and  the  maid.  The  boy  went  down,  and  there  sat 
Clever  Alice  and  the  maid  both  crying,  so  he 
asked  the  reason;  and  Alice  told  him  the  same 
tale,  of  the  hatchet  that  was  to  fall  on  her  child, 
if  she  married  Hans,  and  if  they  had  a  child. 
When  she  had  finished,  the  boy  exclaimed, 
1  'What  a  clever  Alice  we  have!"  and  fell  weep- 
ing and  howling  with  the  others. 

Upstairs  they  were  still  waiting,  and  the  hus- 
band said,  wrhen  the  boy  did  not  return,  "Do  you 
go  down,  wife,  into  the  cellar  and  see  why  Alice 
stays  so  long."  So  she  went  down,  and  finding 
all  three  sitting  there  crying,  asked  the  reason, 
and  Alice  told  her  about  the  hatchet  which  must 
inevitably  fall  upon  the  head  of  her  son.  Then 
the  mother  likewise  exclaimed,  "Oh,  what  a 

[2181 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

clever  Alice  we  have!'-  and,  sitting  down,  began 
to  weep  as  much  as  any  of  the  rest. 

Meanwhile  the  husband  waited  for  his  wife's 
return ;  but  at  last  he  felt  so  very  thirsty  that  he 
said,  "I  must  go  myself  down  into  the  cellar  and 
see  what  is  keeping  our  Alice."  As  soon  as  he 
entered  the  cellar,  there  he  found  the  four  sitting 
and  crying  together,  and  when  he  heard  the 
reason,  he  also  exclaimed,  "Oh,  what  a  clever 
Alice  we  have!"  and  sat  down  to  cry  with  the 
whole  strength  of  his  lungs. 

All  this  time  the  bridegroom  above  sat  wait- 
ing, but  when  nobody  returned,  he  thought  they 
must  be  waiting  for  him,  and  so  he  went  down  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  When  he  entered, 
there  sat  the  five  crying  and  groaning,  each  one 
in  a  louder  key  than  his  neighbor. 

"What  misfortune  has  happened?'-3  he  asked. 

"Ah,  dear  Hans!"  cried  Alice,  "if  you  and  I 
should  marry  one  another,  and  have  a  child, 
and  he  grew  up,  and  we,  perhaps,  send  him  down 
to  this  cellar  to  tap  the  beer,  the  hatchet  which 
has  been  left  sticking  up  there  may  fall  on  his 
head,  and  so  kill  him ;  and  do  you  not  think  this 
is  enough  to  weep  about?'2 

"Now,"  said  Hans,  "more  prudence  than  this 
[2191 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

is  not  necessary  for  my  housekeeping;  because 
you  are  such  a  clever  Alice,  I  will  have  you  for 
my  wife."  And,  taking  her  hand,  he  led  her 
home,  and  celebrated  the  wedding  directly. 

After  they  had  been  married  a  little  while, 
Hans,  said  one  morning,  "Wife,  I  will  go  out  to 
work  and  earn  some  money ;  do  you  go  into  the 
field  and  gather  some  corn  wherewith  to  make 
bread." 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  "I  will  do  so,  dear 
Hans."  And  when  he  was  gone,  she  cooked  her- 
self a  nice  mess  of  pottage  to  take  with  her.  As 
she  came  to  the  field,  she  said  to  herself,  "What 
shall  I  do  ?  Shall  I  cut  first,  or  eat  first  ?  Aye, 
I  will  eat  first !"  Then  she  ate  up  the  contents  of 
her  pot,  and  when  it  was  finished,  she  thought  to 
herself,  "Now,  shall  I  reap  first  or  sleep  first? 
Well,  I  think  I  will  have  a  nap !"  and  so  she  laid 
herself  down  among  the  corn,  and  went  to  sleep. 

Meanwhile  Hans  returned  home,  but  Alice  did 
not  come,  and  so  he  said,  "Oh,  what  a  prudent 
Alice  I  have  I  She  is  so  industrious  that  she  does 
not  even  come  home  to  eat  anything."  By  and 
by,  however,  evening  came  on,  and  still  she  did 
not  return ;  so  Hans  went  out  to  see  how  much 
she  had  reaped ;  but,  behold,  nothing  at  all,  and 

[220] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

there  lay  Alice  fast  asleep  among  the  corn !  So 
home  he  ran  very  fast,  and  brought  a  net  with 
little  bells  hanging  on  it,  which  he  threw  over 
her  head  while  she  still  slept  on.  When  he  had 
done  this,  he  went  back  again  and  shut  to  the 
house  door,  and,  seating  himself  on  his  stool, 
began  working  very  industriously. 

At  last,  when  it  was  nearly  dark,  the  clever 
Alice  awoke,  and  as  soon  as  she  stood  up,  the  net 
fell  all  over  her  hair,  and  the  bells  jingled  at 
every  step  she  took.  This  quite  frightened  her, 
and  she  began  to  doubt  whether  she  were  really 
Clever  Alice,  and  said  to  herself,  "Am  I  she,  or 
am  I  not?'"  This  was  a  question  she  could  not 
answer,  and  she  stood  still  a  long  while  consid- 
ering about  it.  At  last  she  thought  she  would  go 
home  and  ask  whether  she  was  really  herself- 
supposing  somebody  would  be  able  to  tell  her. 

When  she  came  up  to  the  house  door  it  was 
shut;  so  she  tapped  at  the  window,  and  asked, 
"Hans,  is  Alice  within?"  "Yes,"  he  replied, 
"she  is."  At  which  answer  she  became  really 
terrified,  and  exclaiming,  "Ah,  heaven,  then  I 
am  not  Alice!"  she  ran  up  to  another  house,  in- 
tending to  ask  the  same  question.  But  as  soon  as 
the  folks  within  heard  the  jingling  of  the  bells 

[221] 


THE  LITTLE  LAME  PRINCE 

in  her  net,  they  refused  to  open  their  doors,  and 
nobody  would  receive  her.  So  she  ran  straight 
away  from  the  village,  and  no  one  has  ever  seen 
her  since. 

THE  END 


[222] 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


A     000  046  470     1 


